We Protect Each Other (Discontinued)
by Rosevine6761
Summary: "I need to be able to protect you!" "Then who's the one protecting you?" These two are always protecting each other, in more ways than one. A central for my Steven and Connie outbursts. Comprised of drabbles and one-shots. A lot of Steven x Connie and the fusion Stevvonie. Requests are always accepted!
1. Sick Day

We Protect Each Other 1

Steven sighed. This was something he barely ever did. He was usually jovial, sweet, and active. He was doing the opposite of at least one of those things now. He was just lying on his bed.

It wasn't exactly voluntary though. He had a nasty case of the flu. Being a gem, he rarely got sick. Yet, he was able to contract this sickness. All sorts of tissues were covering his bed. He had a tissue box right next to him. He was wearing normal striped pajamas, because he didn't have the energy to put on his star-studded red shirt and blue shorts.

He disliked sitting in his bed. Not hate, definitely not hate. He doesn't hate, it is such a strong word. He really wished Connie were here. She couldn't come though, apparently this sickness was contagious. Pearl had explained to him what that was.

 _A Few Hours Earlier…_

 _"Now, I'm going to have to put a sign on the door since Garnet, Amethyst, and I are going out on a mission." Pearl was explaining to Steven._

 _"I wish I could go." Steven complained._

 _"Oh we wish you could too, but you are just much too sick." Pearl said, putting her hands on his shoulders._

 _"Now, the sign will say that someone sick is inside. No one can come inside the house do you hear me? You are contagious." Pearl explained._

 _"What is being contagious?" Steven asked._

 _"It is when you can spread your sickness easily." Pearl explained, trying to get Steven to understand._

 _"Oh okay." Steven said with relief._

 _Present…_

Steven sighed once more and turned to the screen door. He didn't hear any knocks or squeaks. No one was here but him. He was relieved. He didn't want to get anyone sick.

He looked out the window of his room. It was a cloudy winter day, on the verge of snowing. He looked outside harder. It was pretty much all he could do. He noticed something on the ground. Darker spots in the sand. He moved closer to the window to get a better look.

When he looked again, he could see that they weren't darker spots in the sand. No, they were footprints!

 _'Who's footprints could they be?'_ Steven wondered. He got his question answered when there was a knock at the door. Couldn't someone read the sign? He waited a little longer, maybe they'd leave. Whoever was at the door was persistent. They kept knocking.

Steven got out from his warm bed to greet whoever was at the door. When Steven finally made his way to the door, he was surprised to see who was standing there.

"Connie?" Steven said in disbelief. He opened the door hen jumped back.

"Steven, what's wrong?" Connie asked, coming closer.

"Please don't!" Steven shouted quietly, backing up more still.

"Okay, now what's wrong?" Connie asked once more.

"I'm contega-contag-contigi- I'm sick and I can get you sick!" Steven said quietly.

"Oh." Connie said solemnly. Steven looked at her.

"Maybe you can stay here, but a little farther away?" Steven suggested.

"No, no it's fine. I just wish I could stay." Connie said, looking down. Steven thought about it.

"Oh I know!" Steven exclaimed. She summoned a bubble around him. "Now we can be together, but I won't get you sick!"

"That's a great idea!" Connie said. She took off her coat and gloves and laid them down on the couch. Steven and Connie sat on the ground together. They talked about a few things.

"Have you gone on any new exciting missions?" Connie asked. Steven put his finger on his mouth emphasize the fact that he was thinking hard about it.

"Well there was the time we went to the Kindergarten." Steven started. Connie perked up.

"You mean the Amethyst and Pearl one?" Connie asked. Steven blushed slightly, but it went away.

"No, this is a new one." Steven said. He went on with his tale.

"There were these crazy experiments once Garnet and I went into Peridot's room." Steven said. Connie looked at him with fascination.

"Go on." She said. Steven di das he was told.

"Well, once Garnet bubbled the big one, I think Ruby and Sapphire had a conversation." Steven explained. "Then Garnet told me what it was like to be a fusion all the time." Steven finished.

"Wow. That sounds pretty scary." Connie pointed out.

"It was pretty creepy." Steven said. Steven went on to talk about other missions, like when Pearl tricked Garnet.

"I didn't like that time at all. Garnet got really mad at Pearl. I don't think I've ever seen her yell like that before. I felt it was my fault a little bit, I somewhat told Garnet about what happened." Steven told Connie. Connie leaned up against Steven's bubble.

"It wasn't your fault Steven. Garnet would have found out eventually." Connie tried to comfort him. Steven smiled, so Connie knows she succeeded. Steven told her about the play, making friends with Onion, and finished with getting Peridot's foot.

"Garnet and Pearl made up while in that room and even turned into Sardonyx again!" Steven retold excitedly. Connie gestured for him to keep going. "At the end we were able to get Peridot's foot."

"Wow that sounds so interesting." Connie said. She put her arms around herself and shivered.

"It's cold in here, do you know where lighter is?" Connie asked.

"It's on the shelf somewhere." Steven replied, pointing to the shelf by them. Connie stood up and walked towards the shelf. She put her hands on the top shelf to try and feel around. After looking for a few moments, she finally found the little red lighter.

Connie walked over to the fireplace and lit a fire. Now there was a bright glow in the room.

"Better." Connie stated. Steven grinned. They looked at the fire.

"I… brought a book we can read together." Connie said hesitantly.

"What is it?" Steven asked.

"It's Dogcopter: The Novelization." Connie answered.

"Yeah!" Steven said excitedly. Connie put the book against the bubble so Steven and she could read. They found that this wasn't the best solution.

"I can't read it very well." Steven said. Connie laughed little bit.

"Yeah, hmm." Connie replied. She thought for a moment. "I have an idea for what we can do."

"Yes?" Steven asked.

"I can read it out loud." Connie told him, looking Steven in the eyes.

"Okay, that sounds good." Steven said. Connie looked into the fire, then back to her book.

"Let's start." Connie announced. Steven nodded.

"'Dogcopter was flying in the air, doing his usual routine. He just had to patrol the city, just like he always does. The city needs to be safe.'" Connie read. She looked over to Steven, who had a look on his face that said to keep going. She continued to read.

"'He was about to finish until there was an explosion. He looked down. The bank had been blown to bits! Dogcopter flew as fast as he could to the source of the explosion. He could see people running out. He tried to get information out of them, but they were all too busy screaming in terror. He dove in, ready to fight.'" Connie read again. She looked over to Steven again, this time he had a sleepy look on his face. She also had one on hers. She yawned and continued to read.

"'He saw that there was… no one… there.'" Connie read. She leaned on Steven's bubble and fell asleep. She was too out of it to even notice when she fell on his lap when the bubble went down.

 _An Hour Later…_

The gems warped back.

"Let's check on Steven." Pearl said. Amethyst went to her room, but Garnet and Pearl went inside the beach house. When Pearl and Garnet walked in, they saw the cutest sight.

Connie was laying on Steven's lap in front of a fire. They were both asleep. It was so cute until Pearl realised something.

"Wait! Steven's contagious!" Pearl shouted. Garnet shushed her.

"Shush, you'll wake them." Garnet said. She put out the fire and carried the two children up the stairs. She put Steven in his normal position and put Connie at the end of the bed. She saw this in one of her futures. She also sees Connie being sick tomorrow, but she also knows that Connie thinks it's worth it.

 **A/N: So, this is the beginning of my new fic, We Protect Each Other. It is comprised of drabbles and one-shots based around Steven and Connie. Lot's of Steven x Connie and Stevvonie. This is a side-fic, since I have two big fics going on right now. I've been wanting to do this. So I did it.**

 **I hope you like my fic so far!**


	2. Stevonnie: The first time

We Protect Each Other 2

Being Stevvonie felt… well they didn't know. It was amazing, it was awesome, it was great. Steven and Connie both felt this way when they first formed. First, they had been dancing.

Steven fell and Connie caught him. They laughed, and what do you know, they were fused. It was Steven's first fusion. With his best friend. It was crazy!

"Whoa, where are we?" Connie asks. They were in a pinkish place. She immediately looked at Steven.

"I don't know." Steven replies. They both look around. They see that they can both see outside.

"Why am I?" Connie asks. This was confusing, for both of the kids.

"Why is my sandal too small for my feet?" Steven asks. Connie asks the same thing simultaneously.

"Steven!" Connie yells.

"Connie!" Steven replies. "I did it?"

"You did it?" Connie restates.

"This is great!" Steven yells. He had done it! What the gems were trying to teach him, he did!

"Look at you now!" Connie yells excitedly. She was so excited that Steven performed a fusion. Maybe she did feel even more special since his first fusion was with her. She wouldn't brag. She had no one to brag to anyway.

"I'm a fusion." Steven says seriously. Connie and Steven start to have fun in the pink space.

"Wait, Connie. I have to tell everyone." Steven says.

"Yes!" Connie says. Their fusion starts to walk towards the Temple.

"How are we going to tell them?" Connie asks.

"Maybe our fusion can speak for us. I don't know how this works." Steven says. Connie chuckles.

"Well, I guess we'll have to see. It seems we're a few minutes out. What do you want to do?" Connie asks. Steven shrugs.

"I don't know. I guess we could talk." Steven says.

"About how great this is?" Connie asks.

"Sure! I didn't even know I could fuse so early! The gems will be so proud!" Steven shouts. Connie just patiently listens to Steven go on.

Soon enough, they heard the creak of the beach house door.

"We're here." Connie says.

"Pretty cool right?" Their fusion says. Pearl looks flabbergasted.

"Do you think they can hear us?" Connie asks.

"I don't know." Steven replies. They look and see Amethyst looking at Garnet, so they did in turn. They see Garnet with biggest grin on her face.

"Look at that!" Steven says in disbelief. After Pearl is done with her two cents on their fusion, Amethyst comes up to take a gander.

"Wow! You two look great together! How does it feel Steven? Connie?" Amethyst asks, dubbing them Stevonnie.

"It feels amazing!" Steven and Connie say simultaneously while laughing. It truly did. It's like they had a whole world in here, just for the two of them. It was one of the greatest things to happen in Connie's life. Steven's too.

"Yes, well." Pearl starts.

"I wonder what she's about to say." Steven wonders.

"Let's listen." Connie says, pointing to the screen like thing they can see out of.

"But you two should unfuse this instant." Pearl finishes. Steven and Connie are baffled, their faces show it. Connie decides to step up and take control.

"Wait? What?" Connie says, which Stevonnie says. "Pearl, you were so worried Steven wouldn't be able to do this. Aren't you proud of him?"

Pearl stammers after Connie's question. She eventually calls Garnet in for back up. Garnet had other plans in mind.

"Stevonnie." Garnet begins. Connie and Steven listen closely, and so does Stevonnie. "Listen to me. You are not two people. And you are no one person. You… are an experience! Make sure you're a good experience. Now…Go!... Have!... FUN!"

Garnet grins. Steven and Connie look at each other and blush.

"Well let's go!" Steven yells.

"Woohoo!" Connie yells. Steven grabs Connie's hand and raises them both in the air.

Stevvonie rushes out the door, ready to take on the night. They start running. Nowhere in particular. They find a cliff close to them.

"Ready?" Connie asks.

"Ready." Steven replies. They sit down and let Stevvonie do her thing, still having some fun. Stevvonie darts towards the cliff.

"This is awesome!" Steven yells. Connie nods and laughs. As Stevvonie jumps over the edge, Steven and Connie couldn't help but giggle and laugh. Stevvonie does too.

"Let's go to the Big Donut!" Steven suggests.

"Okay!" Connie says, forgetting all about her diet. It's a fusion, it wouldn't do directly to her. Right?

It doesn't take lond for the best donut place in town, which was the only one anyway, to come into view.

"I wonder how Lars and Sadie will like us." Steven ponders.

"Who knows. Though I wonder. Is Stevvonie a boy? Or a girl? Or both?" Connie asks, losing herself in her thoughts about their fusion.

"What do you mean?" Steven questions.

"We're different genders. Does that mean she's androgynous?" Connie asks. Steven, even though not knowing what that word means, just simply shrugs.

"We're almost there!" Steven yells, excitement taking over his voice. Connie notices Lars and Sadie talking to each other.

 _'I wonder what they're talking about?'_ Connie thinks. Stevvonie steps inside the Big Donut, leaving Sadie and Lars to stare at her with wide eyes.

"Ha-ha how can I help… me?" Lars stammers.

"Well we know she at least looks like a girl, but what about Sadie?" Connie questions. Steven doesn't answer, and just orders donuts for the both of them.

"Two doughnuts. Please." Steven orders, making Stevvonie say it. Sadie gapes at Stevvonie as Lars gets a bag of donuts. Somehow Stevvonie had money, and was ready to pay, until Sadie stopped her.

"Nothing! It's on the house." Sadie covers. Steven and Connie are surprised.

"Really?" Stevvonie says. Lars and Sadie nod.

"Okay." Stevvonie says. Connie stands up, she was getting a hang of this whole thing now.

"But just so you know, that isn't a very sound business practice." Connie says. Sadie and Lars are still stunned as Stevvonie makes her leave.

"Cool! Free donuts!" Steven yells excitedly. Stevvonie goes to sit on a bench. It is at this point where Steven and Connie are just fading away and Stevvonie is taking over slightly.

"Sweet, two doughnuts! One for me and one… for… uh, me." Stevvonie says. Steven and Connie feel themselves being pulled apart. Like they were being separated.

"Steven!" Connie calls out in worry.

"Connie! Are you okay?" Steven asks nervously. "We can stop if you…"

"No, no. Don't worry." Connie replies. The two kids feel themselves coming towards each other once again. "Better."

Sour Cream starts coming towards Stevvonie. "Oh hey, Sou- er… hey stranger." "Wow cool pants!"

"Cool. Rave, tonight." Sour Cream responds. Steven and Connie look at each other. Steven has a smile plastered on his face, while Connie is a little more questioning about the situation.

"Like, a dance?" Connie asks, making Stevvonie do the same.

"Yeah, at the warehouse. I'm DJ-ing, and a bunch of my friends from the internet are gonna be there. There's gonna be free… glow sticks…" Sour Cream answers.

"This will be great Connie! You'll be dancing, but not exactly in front of everyone!" Steven says. Connie is still a little uncomfortable about it, but she lets that go.

"Okay!" Connie says. Stevvonie tells Sour Cream she's going to be there.

"Well, I better get moving. Let's go the long way." Stevvonie says.

"She said let's. At least she's aware." Connie whispers to herself.

"Huh?" Steven asks.

"Oh, nothing." Connie replies. _'Even though it could possibly be everything.'_

 _15 Minutes Later…_

Stevvonie approaches the rave.

"Are you ready to dance?" Steven questions.

"Of course!" Connie replies. Even though on the inside she was entirely nervous. She hopes Stevvonie won't be nervous because of her.

Stevvonie walks in and starts to dance.

"See how fun this is?" Steven asks.

"I guess you're right." Connie says. After Stevvonie stops dancing she looks around.

"Steven they're all staring!" Connie shouts worriedly. "I thought this was supposed to be a dance. No one else is dancing."

"Connie Connie!" Steven calls out in worry. The separation starts to happen again. Except this time Connie doesn't care. Did they unfuse? What happened? All that starting. All Connie hears is someone saying 'Hey baby.'

"Huh?" Connie asks. She is so disoriented, not knowing what's going on.

"Get ready. It's Kevin Time." Some dude says. Connie, panicking takes control of Stevvonie and gets her away from there. She doesn't know where Steven is, and she isn't sure of what Stevonnie's personality is like.

"I don't understand what's wrong. You have fun dancing but this dance isn't fun. You're supposed to like this. Why- don't I- we like this." Connie says. She's trying to talk to Steven, but he still isn't there.

"I wish you were here." Connie says sadly. "If we were together, it would be okay. But we _are_ together, and it's not. _I'm alone._ " Connie sits down and starts to cry. She's lost, and Steven's gone, and-

"Not tonight. Hey baby, why'd you leave me on the dance floor?" The dude says. Connie doesn't feel like answering.

"I don't want to dance anymore." Connie hears Stevonnie saying. She didn't say that, maybe Stevonnie said it on her own, or-

The dude starts to talk again. Connie looks up in hope. She sees just darkness. She can't tell if Steven's there.

"Why should I?" Stevonnie says. Connie is sure that it couldn't just be Stevonnie. Connie hears the dude talk even more. Ugh.

"How can you say that? You don't even know us!" Connie says. Connie stands uo and looks around. Maybe that would get that dude to shut up. The dude said something about being crazy.

"No one is crazy, I just don't like feeling alone here!" Connie yells.

"If you're so lonely, then dance with me!" The dude says. Connie has anger in his eyes. This guy just thinks Stevonnie is just a babe.

"Fine. You wanna dance? Let's go." Stevonnie says. Connie looks around for her friend.

"And it's Stevonnie; I am _not_ your baby." Connie says with the extra umph. Connie looks around and sees a dark figure.

"Steven?" Connie asks. The figure turns around.

"Connie!" Steven says happily. They hug.

"Let's show this guy what we got." Connie says. Steven nods. They start to dance as crazily as they can. They go as aggressively as they could. Soon a while light goes around them and they see themselves at the rave.

"We're back." Steven says in a daze. Connie just laughs. They start to dance with each other, ignoring the eyes staring at them. All they thought about is how they were definitely going to do this again.

 **A/N: This wasn't my best work I realised. I don't know why, it's just not the best. Oh well.**

 **PLEASE PLEASE give me suggestions for future chapters in the comments. I can't think of anything, but I want to keep writing this.**

 **~My suggestion box is always open!~**

 **I hope you like my fic so far!**


	3. Don't Let Me Go

We Protect Each Other 3

 **A/N: The idea for this chapter was suggested by Onikiba. Thanks Onikiba!**

Steven had just gotten back to the Temple from the barn. He wanted to talk to Connie, so after much persuading, the gems let him go back to the Temple. He had changed out of his signature star shirt. Into another star shirt. He couldn't bear not to wear it.

Steven looked around for Lion, and he was in luck. Lion was only little ways from the Temple. He gave Lion some Lion Lickers and he got Lion to teleport away to Connie's house.

Once he was out of the portal, he hopped off Lion. He gave him more Lion Lickers at make him stay. He walked up to Connie's well-kept townhouse. He moved his hand up to the door.

*knock knock knock*

Steven heard footsteps inside the abode. They were light, so he could only guess they were Connie's.

"Coming!" Steven heard a voice shout from inside the house. He knew that voice. It was his best friend Connie's! It had been too long since they had seen each other. They hadn't seen each other since the hospital incident. Steven heard the door start to open.

"*gasp* Steven!" Connie hoorayed. She dashed and hugged him. Steven blushed.

"Wow Connie, you're really excited!" Steven pointed out. Connie, still not releasing Steven from the hug, said something quietly.

"I just really needed to see you." She told him. Steven blushed even more. Unbeknownst to Steven, Connie had a pained look on her face. Steven would never, could never, know about her home life. After the hospital, things should have been better. They were worse.

"Connie are you okay?" Steven asked. Okay, maybe he could know. Connie released Steven from the hug. She wiped away tears that were threatening to form.

"Yes, yes I'm fine." Connie answered. Steven was still unsure.

"Are you sure?" He tried again. Connie shook her head.

"No really. I'm fine." She replied sincerely, putting her hand on Steven's shoulder. Even if she was lying, she was still sincere.

"Okay." Steven said uneasily. Connie tried to keep up her perky attitude.

"So, where are we going?" Connie asked, climbing onto Lion.

"It's a surprise." Steven answered, getting on Lion himself.

"I like surprises." Connie stated. Steven finished getting on Lion.

"Good, because here we go!" Steven shouted, while the portal Lion roared out sucked them in. "Now close your eyes."

Connie did as she was told and closed her eyes. Lion, Steven, and Connie appeared in front of the Big Donut. Steven carefully helped Connie down from Lion. Well, tried to anyway. In a matter of grunts and movements, Connie landed on top of Steven.

"Oof!" Connie exclaimed when she landed. She started to laugh. Steven went along with her. Steven got up and helped up Connie. He turned her to the Big Donut.

"Open your eyes!" Steven yelled. Connie opened her eyes and saw the Big Donut in front of her.

"The Big Donut?" Connie asks.

"Yeah! They have a special on donuts today!" Steven tells her.

"But Steven my parents-" Connie warns. Steven grabs her arm.

"C'mon!" Steven yells. Connie complies.

"Okay…" Connie whispers. Steven pushes the door open to the Big Donut. Lars and Sadie were having a conversation.

"See Connie! You can have some donuts!" Steven said excitedly. Connie looked at the posters and flyers around for the Buy 1 Get 1 Free sale on the donuts today.

"Steven-" Connie tried to say.

"Hey guys!" Steven greets to Lars and Sadie.

"So, you brought your girlfriend?" Lars asks. He puts emphasis on the word 'girlfriend'. Connie blushes.

"She isn't my girlfriend Lars, I'm just trying to get her to eat a donut." Steven replies. Connie's blush went away. That was weird, she shouldn't have felt anything because of that.

"Sure." Lars says. Steven looks at the donuts. He spots one.

"Connie you have to try this donut!" Steven tells Connie. Connie shakes her head.

"Steven, I told you. My parents don't allow-" Connie replied. She stopped. Does she dare defy her parents? Would this be revenge for the hell they were giving her? How they'd just leave before she could make a friend? All that yelling, all that yelling.

"You know what? I'll try one!" Connie agreed. Steven grinned the brightest grin.

"Yes!" He shouted. He gave his money to Lars.

"Here's a donut for you Steven. And one for your "friend"." Sadie tells Steven. Steven took the donuts.

"Guys, she's not my girlfriend!" Steven says to Lars and Sadie. "Let's go eat these donuts outside Connie."

"Okay." Connie answers as they walk outside.

"I'll get a candle for you lovebirds." Sadie chuckles. Steven tries to ignore that comment.

"And don't worry, we won't disturb your table of love~" Lars jokingly adds. Steven laughs a fake laugh.

"Lars!" Steven says. He starts to blush. Sadie walks out with a doughnut shaped candle.

"Okay Lars, let's leave them alone for now." Sadie tells Lars. Lars scoffs.

"No way man." He replies.

"So are you gonna summon your magic love bubble?" Lars asks to Steven.

"Lars that's not what it is." Steven tells him.

"Sure it's not." Lars replies.

"Lars stop being a jerk!" Sadie butts in.

"I'm just giving Steven suggestions for his date." Lars tells her. Sadie and Lars start to argue.

"This reminds me of the first time we met." Connie points out, eating her donut.

"It is isn't it?" Steven agrees as he finishes his. Connie, after a few more bites, finishes hers.

"We should go before this gets too out of hand." Connie suggests.

"Yeah, maybe I can get them to stop as we leave." Steven says. He and Connie stand up.

"Well, we're going to go. How about you guys talk about good things? It's a challenge!" Steven offers. Sadie considers it, but Lars takes a different approach.

"Okay, I hope you guys have a _good_ date!" Lars says, he starts to laugh. Sadie elbows him.

"Ow! What was that for?" Lars asks.

"You know exactly what that was for!" Sadie shouts. Lars and Sadie go inside the Big Donut.

"Well, I guess I should get you home." Steven tells Connie. Connie freezes. She didn't want to go home. She couldn't ask too much of Steven however. Connie just sadly got on Lion.

"Okay."

 _That Night…_

Connie jerked up with sweat fresh on her face. She was shaking from her horrible nightmare. She had come home, and her parents were yelling at her, and even hitting her. She hated it.

As an instant reaction she had her phone in hand, it was on Steven's number. She looked at the clock. '2:30 AM' it said. She sighed. She couldn't text Steven, he'd be asleep. It was worth a shot though.

'Hi.' She texted. She held her phone to her chest, hoping for Steven to text back. To her amazement he did.

'Hey. Why up so late?' Steven's text said.

'Nightmare.'

'Wanna talk about it?'

'Sure.'

In two minutes, Connie heard something from her window. There Steven and Lion were standing. Connie rushed to put on some boots and threw a jacket over her nightgown. She climbed out of her window and use her path down to get to Steven.

"I didn't think you'd come." Connie told Steven.

"Of course I would. You're my best friend, I couldn't leave you like that." He replied. Connie sat down on the grass. So did Steven.

"So, tell me your nightmare." Steven said.

"Well it started when I came home…" Connie began.

 _10 Minutes Later…_

Steven and Connie were hugging, mostly because Connie started to tear up.

"Don't let me go." Connie whispered.

 **A/N: So, this got a lot more filled with feels then what I intended. The suggestion I got had nothing to do with what I put for Connie. It was just actually about Steven and Connie going to the Big Donut and Lars and Sadie thinking it was a date.**

 **Yeah, I have a tendency to make things way more sad and feelsy than what they are supposed to be. Oh well, that's my writing style.**

 **And yes, I did imply Connie gets abused. Shoot me. I'm actually agreeing with this head canon.**

 **Remember, I always accept requests! (Unless they're absolutely dumb)** **Even ones from AUs!** **Yes I said that right. If you suggest one from the AU where Connie is the half-gem, then that's fine. I also take one from all timelines. So when either one was little, or older. We have a lot to work with people!**

 **I hope you like my fic so far!**


	4. Running Away Part 1

We Protect Each Other 4

 **A/N: The idea for this chapter was suggested by SneaselXRiolu. Thanks!**

 **(Note: This chapter is going to be a two parter. I'm putting two ideas from different people together and making them a two parter. It might be three parts though, I'll have to see.)**

Connie was bored. This was something fairly rare. She had plenty of items to keep her busy, such as her violin and extensive collection of books. She didn't want to bother herself with those though. She wanted to see Steven.

She was "grounded" though. For a few days ago, when she snuck out of the house. It wasn't that much of a grounding, as both of her parents were gone. They just left. Her mom and dad both went to work, leaving her there to do whatever she wished.

She knew what she wished though. She wanted to see Steven. She shouldn't though. For more reasons than one. For one, if her parents come back, she'd really be in trouble. For the second thing, Steven was probably off doing something so amazing right now.

She could never do any amazing stuff. She couldn't go on missions. She couldn't be friends with the enemy. Steven was just so special. Being around him made her feel good, for sure! When she was alone however, she couldn't keep her wandering mind off of him.

She was slightly jealous.

Connie stuck her head out of her window. It was a sunny, warm day. It would've been nice to experience that freedom.

 _'I wonder if I should just leave. I don't care about what my parents will do. I'm determined.'_ Connie contemplated. She really debated sneaking out again. It wasn't like her window was locked.

What if her parents came in while she was away? They would never fall for the old pillow-in-bed trick. No, her parents were smarter than that.

Connie shook her head. I guess she'd just take the risk. Maybe she and Steven could warp somewhere else before her parents got to the beach house.

Connie stood up and packed her backpack. It wasn't even a conscious decision, she just stood up and went. Once she had packed a lot of clothes, a flashlight, and a few other necessary items, she figured out what she was telling herself.

 _'Am I really trying to run away?'_ Connie thought with disgust and shock. She put her hand over her mouth. She threw down her backpack. She couldn't run away!

What she was going to do is see Steven, nothing could make her stay here and just think about it. He'd make her feel better. Feel happy.

Connie didn't go out of her window like she had before. This time, she just went through the front door. She locked it and went on her way.

She didn't live exactly in beach city, but close enough to walk. It was only about thirty minutes to Steven's house. She would stay to the side, and go the second way, so her parents wouldn't see her. So, instead of keeping straight, she turned in her little neighborhood.

It would take her a few more minutes extra, but it would be worth it. Connie just walked along the side. She took out her phone.

Would she text Steven? Would he answer?

"Should I text him?" She asked herself. She thought it over and turned her phone on.

'I'm coming over.' She typed. She pressed the 'send' button and waited. She waited for a few minutes before coming to a conclusion.

"I knew he was busy, he probably wouldn't have taken the phone to the barn anyway." Connie said to herself, voice low. Her thinking was interrupted by a hopeful buzz of her phone.

She looked at it and turned it on again. She saw a text from Steven. She smiled.

'That's great!' Steven's text said. It had as much enthusiasm as if he was actually there.

'I'm about 25 mins. out though.' Connie wrote.

'I can come get you with Lion.' Steven offered. Connie thought it over.

'K. Once I get to the sign when you come to Beach City, I'll text you.' Connie sent. Steven put a happy face emoji.

Connie put her phone in her pocket and kept walking. If she jogged there, or walked at a fast pace, it would take her maybe seven minutes to get there. She had no time to waste, so she started to run. That would make it five minutes.

 _Five Minutes Later…_

Connie had arrived at her destination. There was the Beach City sign.

'I'm here.' She texted Steven. After a minute or two she could see a portal and out came Lion and Steven.

Connie went onto Lion's back and they went off. Instead of using a portal, Lion just ran.

"Hey Connie." Steven greeted.

"Hi Steven." Connie replied. "I never really got to thank you for a few days ago. You know, when you came to my house at night?"

"Oh that? You don't need to thank me, it was fun!" Steven says with glee.

 _'Yeah, just fun.'_ Connie thinks. "Do you know why Lion isn't just using a portal?"

"I guess it's just more fun this way to Lion."

"Sure."

Soon enough, Connie and Steven reached the Temple. They hopped off Lion and just let him do his own thing, that big fluffy animal he is.

Steven pushed open the door and they both walked inside.

"Lion running or using his portal always reminds me of that one time we wanted to see a movie." Connie states. Steven laughs.

"Yeah. I wonder if Lion has any more mysterious abilities." Steven wonders.

"Remember when we were in that room and I went like "boop" *poke*" Connie reminisces.

"Hey! I'm ticklish." Steven chuckles.

"Oh really, huh?" Connie asks. Steven nods. "He he he."

"Uh oh."

"Tickle fight!" Connie shouts.

"I'm gonna get you for tickling me!" Steven yells. He comes in at Connie. They both end up falling on the ground. Laughter could be hear from even outside of the Temple.

"Hey!" Connie says. She gets Steven again, and makes him laugh harder. Connie giggles herself because Steven got her again.

They kept going until the actually started to roll on the ground. They tried to get away from each other, and then went on the offensive, but they never got the timing right.

Soon, Connie was winning the fight. Steven then turned the tables. He started to become more offensive.

Steven and Connie start to laugh more. They eventually end their tickle fight.

"Well, I should probably head home. Before my parents get there." Connie states with underlying sadness.

"Okay." Steven says with disappointment. He drops Connie off at her house and goes back to the Temple. Too bad he wasn't expecting what was waiting for him. The gems arguing like that was just horrible.

 _That Night…_

Connie was running. Properly running. Her backpack was n her back. Her hair was messy. She didn't care.

Dried tears were on her face. She was breathing heavily. She had to get to Steven's house.

She was actually running away.

Her parents' looks plastered on her faces when she got home said it all. Then they started yelling. She even got slapped. She just couldn't take it anymore.

Who knew that Steven was actually ready to get away from it all too?

Connie had made it to the Temple. She knocked on Steven's door. Steven actually opened the door.

"Hi Connie." Steven said with sadness. She came in. She noticed Steven had a runny nose and watery eyes.

"What happened?" She asked to him. He started to cry.

"Well, after I came back, the gems- the gems were arguing with each other. They just kept yelling and yelling! I hid, so they couldn't see. Pearl said something about my mom and Amethyst started yelling at her. They all went inside the Temple and kept screaming at each other. I just have some nagging feeling it was about me." Steven explains. Connie let him cry on her shoulder.

"Steven, I have a crazy idea." Connie states.

"What is it?" Steven asks.

"Let's run away."

 **A/N: Here's part 1 of 2! It's weird. I am making a two parter from two different ideas that two different people gave me. I don't know why. It just happened.**

 **Sorry if his felt rushed, I tried to fix it, but then it felt like filler. So, I just hope I did a good job.**

 **It seems I got to update all 3 of my fanfictions today. Coolio.**

 **I hope you like my fic so far!**


	5. Running Away Part 2

We Protect Each Other 5

Steven was surprised. Would he run away with Connie? His best friend? His first fusion partner? Someone he wanted to be with for as long as he could?

Would he stay with the gems? His mothers? The ones who he thinks blame him for his mother's "death"? Try and get Connie to stay? Hopefully with good results. Would the gems still be screaming at each other? Making him slightly want to cry every night?

Or would he stay with the gems, and let Connie run away by herself? Let her go out there? Anything could happen to her! He remembered what happened that day when Alexandrite came. The gems all mentioned something that could happen to them. Connie could go to prison!

He knew his decision.

"I'll have to pack." He finally answers. Steven takes out his cheeseburger backpack. Connie just sits patiently and thinks about this whole thing.

 _'Am I sure I want to do this?'_ Connie questions herself.

 _'What if my parents find me? Where would I go? What if the police find me? That's debatably worse. I just want everything to get better. If I have to run away, then so be it.'_

Steven made sure he packed everything. He had a few of his star shirts. He also had one or two shorts. He had a few other things such as a flashlight and some snacks.

"Okay Connie. We just have to leave at the right time." Steven states.

"What do you mean?" Connie asks.

"Well, the gems are still here. If we use the warp pad now or something, they'd know." Steven explains. Connie can hear the Temple door open.

"Oh, hello Connie. Are you hear for sword training lessons?" Pearl asks. She looks as if she wasn't expecting Connie. Which she wasn't. The arguing had just gotten worse. She actually wanted to get away from it all by the training.

"No. But what you mentioned reminds me of something." Connie answers. "Can I borrow Rose's sword?"

"Whatever do you need it for?" Pearl asks. Last time she left it with Connie and Steven, they lost it in a hospital.

"I just need some extra practice." Connie answers. Pearl brightens up. This was definitely a good reason.

"Of course." Pearl replies. She goes back into her room to retrieve it. She eventually comes out.

"Here you are, Connie." Pearl says, handing over the sword.

"Thank you." Connie replies. Pearl turns to Steven.

"Okay, Steven. The gems and I will be going on a mission in a few minutes. Will you be okay?"

"Yeah!" Steven practically yells. Pearl smiles.

"Wonderful." She replies. She goes to her room.

"This is great, now we have a good time to go!" Steven exclaims. Connie grins.

"Good." Connie replies. She can't think of anything to get rid of the lingering silence.

"What do you think is going to happen?" Steven asks. Connie was shocked. She didn't expect that. She wanted to tell him how she really felt, but she didn't want to see Steven sad.

"Oh I don't know. I bet we'll have a lot of fun. I don't think we'll be gone forever though." Connie lies. She wants to leave forever. That was not hard to tell. She knew it was too good to be true though. She knew Steven only knew of a few places to warp.

"I think we will go on tons of adventures! What if we become superheroes?" Steven explains. Connie thinks about it. She finds it highly unlikely. But, could she hurt Steven's feelings?

No, she couldn't.

"That… would be great! You could save so many people with your powers and I could definitely kick some butt!"

"Yeah!"

Connie and Steven got so caught up in their talking that Connie barely noticed when Pearl's door was opening.

"Steven!" Connie hushed in a loud whisper. Steven stopped his talking. Pearl came out. Soon the other doors opened and Amethyst and Garnet came out.

"Did Pearl tell ya about the mission, little dude?" Amethyst asked.

"Yep! I hope you guys have fun!" Steven answered. Amethyst rolled her eyes.

"Me too, it seems like these missions are getting boringer, or I mean "more boring". Seriously, Pearl is just really bugging me about this grammar."

Connie and Steven giggled to themselves. For more reasons than what Amethyst could have even thought of.

"Steven, can you watch the Temple?" Garnet asks with her normal ordering voice. Steven starts to sweat. He doesn't think he's ever really lied to Garnet like this before. He blows it off.

"Yep!"

"Good, we should be back in a few hours." Garnet replies.

"Goodbye." Pearl says.

"Yeah, see ya." Amethyst also adds. Steven waves bye to them s they warp off.

"Now let's wait a few minutes and then we should go. Just to make sure they aren't warping to anyplace I think of." Steven suggests. Connie nods.

"Okay, that's actually a good idea!" She exclaims in return.

A few minutes go by, and after some checking of their bags, Steven and Connie are ready for departure.

"Let me make sure the door is locked at least." Steven states as he goes to check on the door.

"That door can lock?"

"Yeah, just we barely ever lock it. Sometimes I forget about it."

After a little bit of struggling on Steven's part, the two kids were ready to go. They stepped onto the warp pad.

"Are you ready?" Steven asks. Connie grabs his hand and they both blush.

"Yes. Absolutely." Connie replies.

"Well then let's-" Steven starts, he is cut off by the sound of the warp pad. "Go!"

Steven in Connie were in the fog of an all too familiar place for Steven.

"Where are we?" Connie asks.

"This is the Kindergarten. Amethyst was made here."

"So _this_ is the Kindergarten! I never expected to be so… um barren and dead."

"Yeah, I don't know exactly why it's like this. I think it's because these injector things," Steven starts to explain. He points to virus-looking machines. "Came and sucked up all the life."

"That sounds horrible!" Connie exclaims.

"It must have been. I think the war the gems talk about a lot was fought over this."

Steven and Connie hop off the warp pad. Hands still locked, they walk in the Kindergarten.

"I really don't think this place is very ideal…" Connie trails.

"Yeah, but there is grass around here, I know it. Maybe we could just get somewhere by walking."

"Okay."

 _20 Minutes Later…_

Steven and Connie had finally made it to the grasslands Steven had mentioned. Connie was a little surer after seeing this.

"Maybe we could find a place around here with water, like a beach." Connie suggests.

"Maybe. Let's just keep walking!"

"Sure!"

 _'I wonder what the gems think. Actually, I don't know if I should. I'm just so confused! They kept yelling, it was so hard to endure. Maybe they'll make up. Just maybe.'_ Steven thought to himself. He sighed. Tears had started to well up in his eyes. Using his free arm he wiped them off.

 _'What will my parents do? Will they try to find me? Will they just forget about me? I just don't know anymore.'_ Connie ponders. She looks away from Steven and at the ground. She also sighs.

Neither of the two children even knew what the other was thinking.

 **A/N: Yeah, I know, not much happened in this chapter. I'm going to make this arc into a 3 or 4 part. I just needed to get it started up.**

 **Thanks for the support guys!**

 **Sorry it took so long to update. I was on Thanksgiving break the whole week and I went to my aunt's house for Wednesday through today. So I didn't have a lot of time to write.**

 **I hope you like my fic so far!**


	6. Running Away Part 3

We Protect Each Other 6

Steven and Connie had been walking for what had felt like hours. But it was just a mere hour. Connie looked up for about the 10th time on their eerily silent walk.

"Look! I can see something reflecting! Maybe it's water!" She exclaims. Steven looks up too.

"Well come on! Maybe we found a beach!" He replies. He starts to run to it.

"Hey!" Connie shouts after him playfully. She runs behind him. Steven pushes the grass out of the way to see if it was a beach. He kept it pushed for Connie to come through.

"Yes!" She says with glee. "Now we can do something."

"What should we do? Oh I know! Let's become superheroes!"

"There are two problems with that. I'm not super, and I'd think we'd be more vigilantes."

"What are vigilantes?"

"They find that the law is wrong or corrupt, so they take the law into their own hands! To fight the injustices of the land!" Connie notices Steven's confused look. "Sorry, got a little carried away. They are basically like Dogcopter, just usually without the powers."

"Oh! Okay."

Connie and Steven sat on the beach. Rather awkwardly if Connie would say. Connie tried to break the silence.

"Do you think people will look for us?" Connie finally asks. Steven didn't know how to answer this question. He was always so happy, what did he do when he wasn't?

"Well, I don't know. It will probably take the gems a few hours to come back." Steven states. Connie feels slightly more relieved.

Steven and Connie sit on the beach. This time it was Steven's turn to break the silence.

"Connie, I'm just so confused. I don't know even know exactly who I am…" Steven ranted.

"Steven are you?" Connie asks before stopping.

"Just, what about my mom? I _am_ her! Do the gems see her as me? I don't know!" Steven exclaims.

"Steven, just stop for a minute."

"What? I just don't know! Was this the right thing?"

"Steven!"

Steven stops his rant. He looks at Connie with tears in his eyes. Connie puts her hand on his.

"Just, slow down. I don't see you as your mom. I see you as you. I've never met your mom, so I never had to. Please Steven, don't get upset."

"You're right. It's just I have heard the gems. Well more like Pearl." Steven said. He starts to explain his story. He talked about when Pearl found his mom's scabbard.

 _At This Point, With The Gems…_

The gems warp back from their rather short mission.

"Yo Steven! We're back!" Amethyst calls out. No answer was to be heard. All the gems step off the warp pad.

"Steven? Dude you can come out!" Amethyst tries again. Nothing was to be heard.

"Where could Steven and Connie have gone?" Pearl asks. She gasps. "Oh my goodness! They have Rose's sword! Anything could happen!"

"Steven! C'mon dude this isn't funny!" Amethyst tries one more time, but no avail.

"Garnet! Do you see them anywhere?" Pearl asks. Garnet sounds like she's struggling, until she unfuses.

"Sapphire! What are we going to do?" Ruby exclaims. She has a worried expression plastered on her face.

Sapphire's calm demeanor was dropped.

"I don't know! Our Steven is gone!" Sapphire barely says above a normal volume. She starts to cry. After she lets herself out a bit, she takes a deep breath, but still can't seem to stop her flow of tears.

"Oh Ruby it's all our fault! I should have seen this! Why couldn't I have seen it?"

"Sapphy." Ruby says simply. She whispers a few things in Sapphire's ears to make him feel better.

"I know just a little bit. I don't know exactly where Steven is. But, I do know why…" Sapphire started to sob again. Ruby managed to calm her down. "I-I know why he left."

"Why?" Amethyst asks bluntly.

"He thinks we-we want Rose instead of him. Well, kind of." Ruby answers.

"What? That's ridiculous! I love the little guy! Maybe even more than Rose." Amethyst points out, saying the last part a bit quieter.

"I just don't know why. He knows we don't want that!" Ruby shouts with anger.

"Ruby, that's just the thing. It isn't us." Sapphire says quietly. She glances over to Pearl, who has been silent.

"What?" Ruby asks.

"It's just that… Steven doesn't think _we_ are doing this. He thinks it's Pearl." Sapphire replies. Everyone collectively looks over to Pearl, who has a look of denial on her face.

"What? I would never do anything to Steven!" Pearl exclaims.

"Actions speak louder than words. Pearl, what happened between you and Steven?" Sapphire asks.

"Nothing!"

"What about when you found Rose's Scabbard?" Sapphire asks. Pearl looks down. "Or when Connie was learning the art of swords?"

Pearl proceeded to say nothing, her eyes filling with tears.

"Fine, I should tell you." She starts. She begins to tell what happened. A sad look was on her face all the way through.

 _A Few Minutes Later…_

"Pearl! Did you see you made him feel like you wanted Rose? This is all your fault!" Amethyst fumed. Pearl only sobbed quietly. "You need to get over her!"

Pearl only sat.

"Steven could be hurt! All because you couldn't let go of your damn feelings! Your feelings! Seriously!" Ruby shouted. The wood beneath her got charred.

"Guys, we have to find Steven. With or without Pearl." Amethyst says. Everyone nods, knowing that Pearl was something to be dealt with later. Everyone steps on the warp pad.

"Pearl, are you coming?" Sapphire asks. She already pictured the answer. Pearl sniffed.

"Yes, I have to make things right." Sapphire smiles. Pearl comes on the warp pad and they go off.

 _Back With Steven and Connie…_

"Wow." Connie said in awe. "But Steven, you know you are great."

"Barely. I just don't know." Steven says. He yawns. "It's getting late."

"Yeah." Connie says. They set up a little bed of sorts and fall asleep.

 _Day 2_

Connie woke up first. She just let Steven do what he wanted, which she bet was sleep. She had no idea what she was telling Steven before. Vigilantes? She wasn't good enough for that.

What if a gem monster had come for them? They'd be ready. She hoped.

She just waited for Steven to wake up. He eventually did. They went into talking about what had been going on in their lives.

It was mostly Steven talking. Connie didn't have a lot to talk about, since she didn't want to lay the information about her parents on poor Steven. She didn't know how he would take it.

As Steven just kept talking and talking about the gems, since that was most of his life, Connie could only think. She was just happy that she didn't have to be with her parents. Somewhat. For some reason, she just wanted to go home.

 _Day 4_

The third day of being "on the run" as Steven put it was actually pretty boring. Since Steven and Connie were tired from staying up late on day 2, they had pretty much slept and/or been groggy all day. Connie had decided to start a journal. So she wrote in it that day.

Today she knew what she was going to write. She picked up the pen and the notebook.

'We've been "on the run" for 4 days now. How am I faring? I don't know. I want to go home, but I want to stay. I'm so confused. I think this was a dumb idea. Steven and I don't know anything about this! Just, what will we do? Steven's been shaky these past few days. Sad, but I'm able to cheer him up. What now? I don't know. That's all I'm going to say for today.'

She closed the notebook. Steven was just stirring awake. Maybe they'd do something together. Even if the days became rough, she always wanted to get through it with Steven.

Why was she developing her first crush?

 _Day 5_

Both Steven and Connie couldn't believe it had nearly been a week. Connie sometimes wondered if they were running away from their problems. She doubt Steven thought that. If she had to take a guess he was probably thinking about how they would become vigilantes. How wrong she was.

Steven had actually wondered if the gems were looking. Were they happy? Were they sad? He just wanted to appeal to them.

He would get his chance to talk to them in a few days.

 _A Few Days Later…_

Steven wakes up with sand on his face. He brushes it off. Connie is laying peacefully next to him. He doesn't want to wake her.

He wonders if the gems are looking for him. Do they know he's gone? Who knows?

Little did Steven know they had just warped to the Kindergarten.

 _30 Minutes Later..._

Connie woke up. Or so she thought. When she did there was nothing there. No grass, no sand, no Steven. She was in her bed at home. But how?

She could hear bangs at her door. Scary bangs. Ones she needed to get away from. Was it her parents? Couldn't be. She could hear the door burst open.

Connie actually woke up with a jolt. Sweat covered her. Steven jumped to her side. Apparently she had screamed.

"Connie? Are you okay?" Steven asks. Connie can't help but cry. The dream was too real.

"Yeah just-" Connie was cut off. Steven and Connie both heard rustling in the grass. Followed by all too familiar voices.

"Are you sure they're here, Sapphire?" Ruby asked.

"We checked every other place that my visions showed me. He is most likely here." Sapphire answered.

Did Garnet really unfuse for him? That made him feel a little better.

"You better hope he is here Pearl." Amethyst says coldly. Steven never knew Amethyst could be like that. The rustling came closer and closer. Steven could see the grass part.

 _'Oh no…'_ He thought. He could see Ruby's red hands part the last part of the grass, burning it.

"Steven!" Sapphire and Ruby yelled simultaneously. All of the gems ran up to hug him, except for Pearl.

"Oh my goodness we were so worried!" Ruby said.

"Hey guys." Steven couldn't help it. He was actually happy they were back. He couldn't run away. "Pearl?"

Pearl still didn't join in, but gave him a sheepish wave.

"Aren't you excited Connie? We get to go home! I don't think that we actually could have ran away for real." Steven asked. Connie clenched her fists.

"No! I don't want to go home!" Connie shouted.

"Huh?" Steven asks.

"I can't go back to my parents! They will be furious! They will just yell at me, and maybe even hit me! I don't want to go back!"

"What? Human parents don't… do… that?" Pearl questions. Connie felt her rage get the best of her.

"Maybe that's what _you_ think! But it's real! And it happens! I ran away! I was free from that! But now you guys are going to force me to go back!"

"We can't make her go back." Steven points out.

"I can't believe humans would even _do_ that to their4 offspring! It's just wrong! It's horrible!" Pearl exclaims. Amethyst puts her fists together.

"Oh man, once I see them…" She says darkly.

"No! You can't hurt them!" Connie protests.

"But they did those things?"

"They are still my parents! I just don't want to go back to them."

"What if you stay at the Temple?" Steven suggests.

"What?" Connie asks.

"You could come live with me and the gems!" Steven offers.

"Well, Steven we have to think this through and…" Pearl added. Her words went unheard.

"I'll do it. But I don't want to be a burden…"

"No way. I think it would be cool to have someone else." Amethyst points out.

"I doubt there will be any space constraints." Says the newly refused Garnet. When did that happen?

"So, can she stay?" Steven asks.

"Mmmm… yes." Garnet answers. Steven and Connie laugh with joy.

"Is this a good idea?" Pearl asks Garnet.

"Just look at them. I think Connie needs it. And so does Steven." Garnet answers. All the gems, and Connie start to walk back to the warp pad. Connie was the happiest she had ever been in her life.

 _An Hour Later…_

Everyone had warped back. Steven and Connie were thinking about beds.

"I can just sleep on the couch." Connie suggested.

"Okay." Steven answered. He was just a go with the flow guy. Connie had set up some of her stuff.

That's when Connie just knew.

There was no going back.

 **A/N: Sorry this took so freaking long! Math has really pounded on me. Seriously, Algebra II sucks. Especially when you are younger than what you are supposed to be when you take it. Oh well.**

 **This chapter also went through a lot of editing.**

 **I'm sorry that it seems a bit rushed. I can just tell. But at least it's better than the first draft. Trust me. I at least fixed it a little bit. I just didn't want this thing to be many parts.**

 **I suppose I'll have to do a little guide thing at the beginning of each chapter. So I'll have to write if it's part of the Running Away canon. So that counts Steven and Pearl's relationship changing.**

 **Okay, I think this is a good note to end on.**

 **I hope you like my fic so far!**


	7. School

We Protect Each Other 7

 **A/N: Ah, finally something that isn't making this arc go further. Let's see, SpongeBob playing in the background? Check. Eating/ drinking something? Check. Well, enough of this, let's do this!**

 **Is This Chapter Part Of The Running Away Arc?: Yes.**

Connie still needed to go to school. It was just going to be a little different. The gems would be taking her.

Well, somewhat. Sometimes they would come, and others, it was just Steven and her on Lion.

Today was one of those days. The Gems didn't want Steven going to school, apparently there was some "past incident". Yeah, Amethyst hurt the kid and Garnet scarred him for life. Steven was too young to exactly remember what happened.

Steven and Connie had climbed atop of Lion.

"Man, I wish I could go to school. All those people to be friends with!" Steven exclaimed. Steven didn't know the half of it.

Connie wasn't normally bullied. She was unknown in school, even if she was at the top of her class. People didn't really know her. She was bullied occasionally, but she just blew it off. It was nothing too horrible. Nothing she couldn't handle.

"Well, you are Steven. You make friends with everybody." Connie replies. Steven grins. Lion starts to run. Steven and Connie knew the routine. Connie had showed Steven and Lion her school a couple of times, so Lion knew how to get there.

Lion roared a portal and next thing they knew, Steven and Connie were at the center for Connie's learning. Kids were messing around in the schoolyard. Connie could barely see them. She had persuaded Steven to make them go a little away from the school, in case others were watching.

He, being Steven asked why. It was an innocent question. Why did Connie want that? He didn't see anything wrong with it.

Connie explained that people could be, frightened per say. Steven still didn't understand, but he still did what Connie wanted him too.

Connie waved goodbye to him and started to walk towards the school. And she just happened to have a trace of Lion Lickers on her backpack. Lion started to sniff and walked towards her.

"Lion! No!" Steven whispered. Lion didn't comply. He kept going forward. Soon, he would be in sight of the kids.

Steven didn't want to just ignore what Connie said. He tried to latch on to Lion. He was able to make Lion stop for a second. That is, until Lion saw that his Lion Lickers were getting too far. Lion shook Steven off of his leg and ran towards Connie.

"Huh?" Connie says as she turns around. Lion jumps at her. He starts licking the end of her backpack, which had a little bit of melted Lion Licker on it. Connie looked around and saw that all the kids were staring at her and Lion.

She just wanted to turn invisible. Melt into a puddle. Hide. Anything that could get her away from the playground and away from all those staring, wide, eyes.

She looked at Steven. Steven ran up to her.

"Connie! I'm so sorry! Lion just saw the Lion Lickers on her backpack and-whoa!" Steven exclaimed. Lion moved his leg on Steven's, making him trip. Out of habit and instinct, he summoned a bubble around himself and Connie.

"Ugh!" Steven grunted. He got up and looked around.

"Oops." He says sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. He looked at Connie, who was worrying so much.

The kids around started to laugh as Connie started to look like she was panicking. They were laughing at the silly little kid and his little friend Connie. They were also laughing because Connie was friends with that fatass little kid.

"I'm sorry! I just messed everything up." Steven states. He lets the bubble down. The kids' laughter is now harder. Connie still doesn't answer.

"Connie! Connie! Are you okay?" Steven asks, the concern all over him. Connie panics more. Everyone was watching. Steven was trying to help her, but he's already done enough.

"Steven, I can handle this. Just go back to the Temple, you'll just make it worse." Connie says. Steven looks at her sadly and gets Lion to get up. He climbs on Lion and goes away. Connie looks around once more.

She runs inside the school building.

 _1_ _st_ _Period- Math_

Connie sat at her normal desk in the front of the class. She hoped everyone would forget about the whole thing. They didn't.

People kept whispering to each other and passing notes. Connie got a few of them.

'Why you friends with that fatass?' One said. 'Hey, little bubble girl' another says. She read one more. 'You and your friend are losers'

Connie ripped them all up. The only one that poked at her is the one that called Steven a fatass.

Steven wasn't fat. He was just a little bigger than normal. There was nothing in any way wrong with that.

 _2_ _nd_ _Period- Gym_

Why did they have to have gym so early?

Connie was thankful though. Barely any of the rude people were in this class. She was also thankful of her training with Pearl, since now she has gotten much better at physical activity. So, that was one way to make fun of her gone.

But today, oh no, today. The dreaded gym activity that everyone loathes. No, not running. No not pushups. Everyone here's the horror stories about this, which were evidently overdramatic.

This, was the rope. The rope you have to climb and hit the bell up top. Connie was great at a lot of other things. But when it came to upper body strength, she wasn't usually the person you were looking for.

And it just so happened to be on the day that everyone saw her in her worst moment. Man, this was going to suck.

After everyone before her was called on, Connie took a big gulp. It was her turn.

"Maheswaran."

Connie looked up. The gym teacher called her name. She walked up to the rope. She could hear a few snickers and giggle sin the back. She wouldn't let this get to her.

She put her hands on the rope and started to pull herself up. She had her eyes closed, because she didn't want to see the embarrassment that was her right then. But as the sounds of the kids went away, she just had to open her eyes. She was actually climbing it!

But, she had looked down, which caused her to have a minor panic attack. The kids saw this and there began the jerks.

"Hey! You didn't have a Lion run into you! Why are you crying?" One kid teased.

Then another, "Aww, does Connie need her little bubble buddy?"

The kids started to laugh simultaneously. Connie sped up her climb and hit the bell.

She nearly jumped down just so she could get away.

 _4_ _th_ _Period- English_

Ah, Connie's favourite class. Maybe something would be in her favour. 3rd period wasn't too bad. It was only study hall. People may have been mocking her, but she was too caught up in her reading to notice. Reminded her of the day she met Steven.

Oh Steven! She remembered this morning. She pretty much shooed him away. She recalled seeing the horribly melancholy look etched on his face.

She did that. What was he thinking back at the Temple?

 _'Why is Connie mad at me?' 'Why does Connie hate me?' 'What did I do?'_

Connie knows Steven can get like that when sad. He always blames himself. He is too selfless for his own good.

She felt horrible. In fact, too horrible to hear the kids behind her, or even the teacher. Good thing English was her best subject.

 _5_ _th_ _Period- History_

This class was actually called Social Studies. But she was studying history, so Connie just called it that. She loved history, but she loathed being in that class with the people present. It was made up of many of the people who saw her today. Many of which were sitting close to her.

"Now, today is going to be a little lighter and more of a democracy than other days," The teacher states, "I'll actually ask you guys what you want to cover today that is in your textbook." "Before we start, how about you youngsters discuss some ideas while I go to a meeting."

The teacher walks out of the room.

One kid in the back raises his hand and starts to say his idea, "Oh! Oh! Let's talk about the history of _lions_!"

"Or how about _pink_ lions?" Another kid joins in.

"Or how about how much it hurts when one rams into you!" More kids start to join in.

"Maybe how to make a magic little bubble!"

"Or how about the history of fatasses?"

Connie had enough.

"Stop it!" She shouted. The kids start to laugh intensely with underlying malice.

"Oooohhh! Looks like Connie blew her fuse!" A few exclaimed. Connie just tried to calm down, but she couldn't with everyone doing this.

"All of you just shut up!" She shouts. The kids don't let up. A few even started poking her. One even hit her side. She couldn't take it anymore. She moved her hand up and slapped one kid across the face. She could see the red.

Connie took her backpack and stood up. The room was silent; they were never expecting some goody-two-shoes like Connie to do that.

Connie walked out of the room, and eventually the school. She didn't want to be a bother Steven, so she'd just walk the whole way.

 _45 Minutes Later…_

Connie had finally made it to the Temple. She opened the door to the beach house. Steven wasn't anywhere in sight.

Connie calls out, "Steven?"

There was no answer. Where could he be? Would he be at the barn? Connie decided to try one more time.

"Steven!"

No answer once more. Connie decided he was probably at the barn. She stepped on the warp pad. Could humans use warp pads alone? Or does there have to be gems? Well, no harm in trying.

She tried to think about going to the barn, but no avail. Then, the warp pad started to glow. She jumped off of it and saw Steven standing there.

"Steven?"

He turned around.

"Oh, hi Connie!" He replies. "How was school?"

"Well, it was, questionable. At least summer is almost here. Just two weeks." Connie answers.

"What?"

"I should probably tell you what happened today." Connie and Steven sit in the kitchen part of the house as Connie discusses her day, Steven asking questions along the way.

 **A/N: In which Steven asks a lot of questions because he doesn't know what a fatass is.**

 **Well, it's done. School is done. This is done. Yay!**

 **I'm going to be going back to the prompts now. I just thought of this and thought I needed to tie it into the story. Don't worry, the Running Away arc will have some closure.**

 **I hope you like my fic so far!**


	8. Beachapalooza!

We Protect Each Other 8

 **A/N: Finally doing prompts again. So let's see what my next one was. *looks at list on phone* Ah, ahem. This prompt was suggested by Spiderwilliam13. Thanks.**

Steven hadn't seen his "Dear Old Dad" in a while. Last time was actually the last time he saw Ruby and Sapphire unfused. And that was too long for Steven's tastes.

It was actually close to his birthday as well, but that was a whole nother matter. He needed to see his dad!

He was actually staying at the Temple for the time being. Just so he could make sure Connie was doing good and all. He had to pick her up from school every day anyway.

That reminded him more of his dad! He needed to see him. He only dropped off Connie an hour ago, so he had time.

Steven went out of the beach house and started to head towards the old carwash.

That was also a question he'd been meaning to ask his dad- when did he get, or even think, of the carwash?

Greg had told Steven about when he first met Rose, and even tried to fuse with her! Would he ask where he got the carwash too? Would he just tell him? Would it be left a mystery? Why was Steven asking so many questions?

Before Steven could even think to answer any of the questions, he was already at the carwash. His dad's van was parked right outside, per usual. Steven didn't see his dad, so he assumed he was napping inside of the van.

He remembered when he banged on it and Greg shook up and was ready to hurt if he didn't see it was Steven. Steven didn't really want to do that again, so maybe knocking would work.

Steven knocked on the metal door, "Dad?" He called inside.

The answer was some rumbling inside the van. Steven knew that there could be no other than his dad making all the ruckus. Steven moved back, just in case his dad pushed the doors open quickly.

The van doors flew open, and there was Greg, with a serious bed head.

"Steven? Steven! It's been too long!" Greg exclaims once he shakes the sleepiness off.

Steven laughs, "Hey dad!" He and Greg lock into a hug.

"So, what made you want to see your old man?"

"I just wanted to see you. It's been so long! I have so much to tell you!"

"Well, let me get my lawn chair out."

After one lawn chair finding and unfolding later, Steven started to tell his dad about what was going on right now.

"That's why we're building the drill." Steven finishes.

"You're pretty busy aren't you bud?"

"Yep!"

"I guess that turned out for the better then."

"What do you mean?"

Greg goes inside his van to grab something. He comes out with a yellow flier with a big word on it. Once Steven could get a closer look, he saw it said 'Beachapalooza'.

Greg starts to explain his dilemma, "Beachapalooza is in a few days, but I won't be able to do it this year either. I have to go out to get parts to fix the car wash. And the guy is only selling them on the day of Beachapalooza."

"Oh," Steven says solemnly, "Not even the gems will be able to do it this time."

"Sorry Ste-man. But I'm sure you'll find a way."

Steven starts to think about how he's going to do Beachapalooza. But, before he ould finish, a question pops into his mind.

"Why is there another Beachapalooza anyway? We just had one." Steven inquires.

"Mayor Dewey is probably doing it to have more tourists. But, at least you get to have another performance!" Greg replies, desperately trying to lighten the mood.

Steven goes back to what he's gonna do about Beachapalooza. What could he do? The gems are busy, his dad can't come. Who else? Wait, that's it! Connie can do it!

"Dad, I know what I'm gonna do!" Steven exclaims.

"That's great!"

"I know right! I just have to wait for her!" Steven jumps up and starts to run off.

"Find who?"

"Connie!" Steven looked back and saw his dad going back inside his van. Now, he had to wait for Connie. Hopefully she'd love doing Beachapalooza!

 _A Few Hours Later…_

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. What? Beachapalooza? Don't you remember last time I did anything in front of people? Stevonnie started to go haywire!" Connie exclaims. Steven told her about the Beachapalooza thing. When she looked back up after her initial reaction, Steven was still grinning, but it wasn't as full as before.

What was she supposed to do? She wanted to stand her ground, but she didn't want to upset Steven. He was so excited, and the fact that his father couldn't do it- oh! She'll do it.

"Okay, I guess I'll go." Connie tells Steve. Stars are in his eyes as he grabs Connie and they run into Rose's room.

"Here! This is the perfect place to practice!" Steven exclaims. "I want a ukulele!" A ukulele appears in his hands. "See?"

"What should our act be then?" Connie asks.

Steven asks for a viola, "I already thought of that. Remember when we were doing that Jam Buds thing? We could do that, but make it better."

Connie didn't really want to make an act from scratch, so she just went along with it.

"Okay."

Steven asked for some chairs and both children sat down.

"Do you remember how it goes?" Steven asks.

Connie grins, "Of course!" She puts her viola up to her chin.

Steven starts to sing, "The sun is bright our shirts are clean…"

 _A Few Days Later…_

The days were long, the practice hard, but it was worth it. The time both children had been waiting for, was here.

Connie wanted it to be over. Steven didn't want it to end. Connie was seriously doubting herself. She knew the song backwards and forwards. She knew all of the routines. Just what if she messed up? What if someone says something and she's thrown off guard? Was she not ready?

Steven wasn't as worried as Connie. He knew the stuff, he was ready. He was going to go into the zone. He had everything planned out. He and Connie had thought of everything they possibly could.

"Now give it up for, Ronaldo!" Mr. Smiley exclaimed.

' _This is it, Ronaldo is right in front of us.'_ Connie and Steven think simultaneously. They might have thought of the same thing, but they had different inflections. Ronaldo had stepped up on stage, and started to explain his theory.

Connie tuned it out, focusing on her part and act. Steven listened intently, still brimming with confidence.

"How is he not nervous?" Connie mumbled to herself. She just looked at Steven. She was in awe. All her life, she had been afraid. Now, she was still afraid. Could she face her fears though? People could laugh at her, just like at her first viola concert. She hated that day with a passion. She could remember it all though.

 _Ocean Elementary: First Grade…_

Connie stood on the stage. The red, silk curtains were behind her. She held her viola in her hand, hard enough so it wouldn't fall, but light enough that her hands didn't sweat. She was about to play.

She raised her viola up to her chin, and started to play her song. She wasn't very good at viola at the time, so all she could play was a detailed version of Mary Had a Little Lamb.

She was doing very well, until she started to dance along with it. It must have been the silliest little dance, because people were laughing. And not the good kind. Connie's dancing started to be a little harder, and then she tripped and ruined the song.

The audience's laughter spilled out across the auditorium. Connie just kept looking down, she couldn't bear to see the people. She was too paralyzed to even get off stage. Once the laugher died down after many minutes, she finally got off the stage. She ran outside and just waited. Waited to leave.

 _Present…_

"Now put your hands up for Steven and Connie!" Mr. Smiley shouts. Connie tenses up, but climbs up on stage all the same.

Steven and Connie sat in the folded chairs. Steven started the song. He also pressed the pedal right beneath him. The lights in the back went to the beat of the song.

"The sun is bright our shirts are clean, we're sitting in the beach, c'mon and share this jam with me!"

Now it was Connie's turn. She took a deep breath and began, "Peach or plum or strawberry, any kind is fine, you see. C'mon and share this jam with me. I'll do my best to give it the sweetness it deserves."

Steven went again, "And I'll keep it fresh, I'm jamming on these tasty preserves!"

Now it was the time that they both sang, "Ingredients in harmony, we mix together perfectly, come on and share this jam with me!"

Connie pressed her pedal, and fireworks went to the beat as well.

Connie sang, "This jam is great!"

Steven sang, "It can easily captivate!"

"It can't be beat!"

"I want to eat!"

They both sang once more, "So come on and share this jam with me!"

The song ended, and everyone stood up and cheered. Connie was happy. People loved it! They weren't laughing! And she wasn't nervous in the end. She wasn't that afraid anymore. She could do this again.

"Hey Steven?" Connie nudges Steven.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

 **A/N: Finally done! Man that took forever! That's because it's Christmas time, so I didn't have a lot of time to do this. So, I made this a nice little chapter. Yay!**

 **Also, give me your requests! I only have one other one to do, then I'm out! Not that I can't think of ideas myself, I just love getting input. So just leave a comment on what you want a chapter to be!**

 **I hope you like my fic so far!**


	9. What's Kissing?

We Protect Each Other 9

 **A/N: Here is another request! This one will be a little different this time, as Steven and Connie are older. Not that much older considering Steven is 14! Seriously, what the hell? And Connie's nearly 13! I have to rethink everything. Anyway, Steven will be 15 and Connie 14 in this story. And Peridot is in this. Yes, this is a probably AU where she doesn't betray the Crystal Gems and gets a redemption arc and yadda yadda yadda.**

 **Oh, and I really don't like and ship Amedot. There will be slight one-sided Amedot in this though. (Because if I had to ship it, this is what it would be like)**

 **This was requested by SneaselXRiolu. Be sure to check out their profile!**

Peridot along the barn. She was actually happy. She had been in an alliance with the Crystal Gems for 1 year, 37 weeks, 5 days, 4 hours, and 26 seconds. Now 27. She was counting.

Homeworld had pretty much abandoned her. The Diamonds did not want to come to Earth and retrieve her, they thought that since she had failed her mission _and_ was working for the enemy, she was defective. Peridot needed to make some changes to herself since then.

Since she had no use for the diamonds on her uniform, she took them off. She even changed how her hair looked. It was much more ruffled now, and it didn't exactly have that diamond shape anymore.

No stars yet, however. She was not ready to become a defender of this dirt rock, or "planet" as the Crystal Gems call it. It was still a dirt rock to her. But, she didn't want to destroy the planet along with its life forms.

Peridot picked up her tape recorder. She had her limb enhancers back, but she enjoyed her tape recorder much more. It meant something to her. Amethyst gave it to her. She had recorded the Pearl and the fusion. She recorded Amethyst sometimes.

She didn't tell anyone that she called the amethyst Amethyst. She had called everyone else 'the' something. But not Amethyst. Amethyst still called her a nerd, however. She still did not understand what that meant.

Peridot was allowed to use the warp pad. And she did from time to time. Only to go to the Temple. She was going to do that today, right after she recorded her log.

"Log Date 9017. The Crystal Gems are on a mission, so I am the only one present at the barn. I have not seen the Hybrid or Human at all today. I expect that they are at the Base of the Crystal Gems. The Temple, I mean. I will investigate that area when this log is over. Sometimes, I ask myself if I want to become a part of the Crystal Gems. Right now I am unsure. The only thing really connecting me to them very well is Amethyst. My standing with her has been repaired, and is the same as 1 year, 36 weeks, 3 days, 2 hours, and 1 second ago. This is Peridot, signing out."

Peridot held her tape recorder tight as she walked onto the warp pad. She warped to the Temple. Most likely she'd find the Steven here.

When the warp ended, she looked around the Beach house, where could Steven be? He was not in his room. There were different places he could be however.

Peridot went to the bathroom. She knocked on the door.

"Hello? Steven?" Peridot called. No answer. Not even a muffled go away or something. Just no answer. Peridot found this peculiar.

Peridot looked around. Where else could Steven be?

"Steven! Steven where are you?" Peridot shouted in the air. No answer. Steven must be here. Peridot didn't want to go anywhere else anyway. Peridot saw a closet though. It was up in Steven's loft.

Peridot climbed on all fours up the stairs, and ran to the closet. She slowly crept up to it as she got close however. This was going to be a surprise find.

She came closer the closet still, and she eventually made her way to the handle.

She wrapped her green fingers around the door handle, and then opened the door. What she saw was very surprising.

"Aah! What are you doing?" Peridot exclaimed. Peridot would learn that this was called kissing. And Steven and Connie were doing it on the closet. Connie and Steven jerked out of what they were doing and looked at Peridot. Steven rubbed the back of his head.

"Well um… we were…" He stumbles. Connie doesn't say anything.

"Why were you guys sucking each other's faces? That is very harmful!" Peridot shouts. Connie and Steven laugh at this.

"Why are you laughing? I'm concerned over your human activity." Peridot points out. Steven and Connie continue to laugh and chuckle.

"No no Peridot, it's not like that." Steven says.

"Then, what is it?" Peridot asks.

"We were… um…" Steven's face turns a bright red, he started to rub the back of his head again. "Kissing…"

"'Kissing' what is that?" Peridot inquires. Steven and Connie look at each other. Connie decided to take this one.

"Well, kissing is what humans do to show love for each other. Well, other animals do it in different ways." Connie explains.

"What?" Peridot asks.

"Don't you know what love is?" Connie questions.

"Yeah. The fusion- Garnet told me about it." Peridot replies.

"Good, now kissing is just a way of showing that love." Connie tries. Peridot seems to understand a little bit.

"But why? What primary function does it serve? It seems practically useless!" Peridot exclaims. Steven decides that it's his go.

"It doesn't have a primary function, Peridot. It just shows how much you care and love for each other. I might have to use an example." Steven states. Peridot looks at him. "Oh, I know! Let's say you had a crush on Amethyst and-"

"What? I don't 'love' or have a 'crush' on the Amethyst! If I crushed her, our alliance would be off! And who would say I'd love Amethyst!" Peridot's face turns… greener as she blushes.

"Woah woah Peridot. I'm just giving an example." Steven explains.

"Very well then, go on with your false 'example'"

"Anyway, if you had a crush on Amethyst, and she had a crush on you back, or if you both just loved each other, you'd have to show it, right?" Steven asks.

"I suppose so. I mean, if we didn't, how would _we_ even know?"

"You see? Now that's what Connie and I were doing."

"Okay?"

"Now, don't tell the gems we were doing this."

Peridot starts to laugh mischievously.

"Oh, I won't."

"Peridot!" Steven shouts.

"Fine! I won't if you answer all the questions I have about this human activity." Peridot negotiates. Steven and Connie groan, but agree.

"Question one, why was kissing even chosen to be the symbol of love? There are other things you could do right? Instead of exchanging saliva and possibly getting an infectious disease that could kill you!" Connie sighs, but answers it.

"Or what about _how_ you kiss? I mean, are there lessons for it? How do you do it properly?"

Peridot just keeps flooding the poor teens with questions.

"Is kissing even a good thing?"

"Are there humans who don't want to kiss?"

Peridot just kept asking questions. She was asking them until the gems got to the Temple, 3 hours later.

 **A/N: All done! Man, this Stevenbomb has been amazing! The Answer was great! But Steven's Birthday was okay. It had some funny moments, but I don't know, it's not very rewatchable. It Could Have Been Great was also pretty good. Peridot's treatment was slightly justified, saying what she did. But I don't know, I just have a bad feeling when I watched Peridot be so desperately happy, and the gems not. But we also got to see what would have happened to Earth, if Rose didn't have the rebellion, so… yeah.**

 **Anyway, I hope you like my fic so far!**


	10. Kidnapped: Part 1

We Protect Each Other 10

 **A/N: Wow, it's been a while. Sorry about that. Conflicting stories, no motivation, writer's block. I think we all know how that feels. Anyway, I'm back, and requests are open! I even have a Tumblr: the-chocolate-nation, you can submit or ask me questions there or something of the sort.**

 **Now for even more news. Since you've all been waiting, I would think this is the appropriate time for this: closure to the arc! Finally closure to the Connie Abuse arc! Yep, you've been waiting, so I'm going to give you guys something worthwhile.**

 **Well, time to actually get to the story!**

Connie did not have the most jovial feeling about today. When she woke up, she had a bruise on her head and arm.

That would usually be nothing to worry about, but there was something peculiar about those bruises.

They were in the same places that she had been hit many times. In the back of the head, and on the upper part of her arm. She did not like the fact that they were in the same place at all. Worse still, the beach house door wasn't locked.

Connie never considered herself paranoid. But she was not an idiot. She came to the conclusion that her father was here last night.

Connie didn't want to worry any of the gems, and she didn't want her parents beat up. She knew that Garnet and especially Amethyst weren't going to be happy with Connie's revelation. So, Connie kept her thoughts about what happened last night to herself.

That didn't mean Connie was happy with what had occurred.

Connie was exhausted. After just thinking about what her parents might have done, she just wanted to go back to bed.

Connie was surprised over how she wanted to go back to bed. She has dealt with this kind of stuff before. She has been away from her parents for a few weeks now. She was just getting used to staying with Steven too. Going so far as to nearly call Pearl her mom. That was a close one. Who knew what could have happened there.

Connie knew her time at Steven's wasn't long though. If her dad came at night and hit her, there is no way to stop them from taking her. Even if she did lock the door, which she will, he will probably bust inside.

Connie even thought tonight they might come. She had to keep herself safe. She would not go to sleep. She also had to hide herself. She had an idea. She would ask Steven. Just how would she tell him without worrying him? There was just too much going on to tell.

 **S:S:S:S:S:S**

"Why?" Steven asks, not exactly answering Connie's request to sleep in Rose's Room.

"Um…well…" _'C'mon Connie! You have to think of something! Let's see, what's a good excuse? Something to do with sleeping. Hmmm… oh I know!'_ "A sleepover?"

"A sleepover? Awesome! I guess that makes sense. We could make the best sleepover space ever!" Steven exclaims.

Connie sighed in relief and wipes the sweat off her forehead. "That sounds fun."

Steven catches her no too excited tone. Steven knew something was wrong. Connie was trying to hide it. Why was Connie trying to hide her feelings from him? What was happening to her? Something not very good, that's for sure. He'll figure it out, and if it is like this tomorrow, he will ask.

Steven had to tell the gems about where he would be sleeping tonight. He just ha to figure out where they were. He didn't see Amethyst come in for breakfast. That must mean they were on a mission. Or Amethyst is still sleeping.

It turned out to be the latter, as Amethyst came out the Temple Door.

"Hey Steman." Amethyst says, going towards the fridge.

"Hey Amethyst, do you know where Pearl is?" Steven asks. Amethyst opens the fridge and takes out some ham.

Amethyst looks up a little bit, "She's probably in her room or whatever."

"Thanks." Steven thanks. Steven and Connie go into Rose's room.

"How are we going to get to get to Pearl's room?" Connie asks.

"Oh, I've been messing around in here, and there's a way to get to Pearl's room. Watch." Steven answers. "Room, I want a way to Pearl's room." A door appears.

"Wow, are you sure that whole fake Beach City thing won't happen again?"

"No way. I've tested this!"

"If you say so."

Steven opens the door. There was Pearl's water towers in her room. Pearl was balancing around like usual, and seemed to be balancing plates. That seemed unusual. Pearl didn't usually balance plates, did she?

"Hey Pearl!" Steven calls out. Pearl abruptly turns Connie and Steven's way, and drops the plates. She catches them before the fall into the water.

 _'Pearl is so cool.'_ Connie thinks.

"Oh- um Steven! And Connie… What can I do for you?" Pearl asks.

"Well Connie wants to sleep in Mom's room, and I wanted to tell you just so you wouldn't worry when weren't in the beach house and stuff." Pearl takes a minute, yes a minute, to take it all in. She nods her head as she starts to understand.

"I suppose there are no problems with it." Pearl states. Steven cheers.

"Good! See Connie, nothing to worry about!" Steven exclaims.

Connie sighs, "Yeah, I was worrying soooo much." Connie chuckles slightly.

 _A Few Hours Later…_

Connie and Steven were getting ready for their "sleepover" in Rose's room. Steven had set many things up inside, and Connie gathered food. Amethyst was in the kitchen as well, suggesting food for the both of them.

"You should get the pancakes, and the Chaaps, and the cookies, oh and popcorn!" She trails off. Connie rolls her eyes. Amethyst was going to make her clear the whole kitchen! "Oh, and the engine oil!"

"Amethyst, you know they can't consume that!" Pearl barges in. Amethyst sighs.

Amethyst laughs, "Oh lighten up, P. I don't mean it."

Connie doesn't listen as they start to bicker. She gathers the rest of the food, and head s to Rose's room. The door is open, so she strolls on in. She notices Steven laying on one of the sleeping bags. This sleepover was going to be the best she's ever had. Well, it is the only one she's ever had.

Steven was just as excited as Connie. Other than his sleepover with Pearl and Amethyst, this is really the first sleepover he's ever had as well. He was really excited for this opportunity. And since he was Steven, and didn't really fit into society all that much, he found nothing wrong with sleeping with girls at sleepovers.

There were stands for the food, and there was even the TV and games from the beach house part of the Temple.

"Do you think we're ready, Connie?" Steven asks.

"Well, I am. Pearl and Amethyst are out there, arguing. But I got the food!" Connie moves the food in front of her to emphasize her point.

"Great! Here, let me take the popcorn. You can put the rest on the table." Steven states. Connie releases the popcorn to Steven, and makes her way over to the table. It was a nice sized table, definitely enough for the food. She set all the food down. She put the health food in front, that way there was a higher chance of both of them choosing the healthier snacks. She also loved watermelon, so she needed to be able to reach it quickly.

Connie's watch alarm beeps. '6:00 PM' it reads. That was the time Connie and Steven had agreed to start this sleepover.

"Yay! Time to play games, and watch some movies, and do all kinds of fun stuff!" Steven exclaims. He starts to munch on the popcorn.

"Hey! You can't eat all the popcorn on my watch!" Connie jokes.

Steven laughs, "Just watch me!"

Connie and Steven laugh and Steven closes the door. He'll open it later, just in case Connie needs to go out, but for now, he's going to keep it shut.

 **S:S:S:S:S:S:S:S**

Connie and Steven watch two cheesy movies, and even binge watch a show. They play board games and play on Steven's Gamecube. MarioKart Double Dash was just too fun to put down!

It seemed Amethyst or Garnet must've told Pearl not to worry about giving them a curfew, because by 11:00, Steven and Connie were still awake, and the white gem was nowhere to be seen.

Steven's eyes had started to sink after the last apple. He had started to yawn more.

"I think it's time to sleep." Steven proposes. Connie nods.

"You're probably right."

Steven turns out the light in the room. He opens the door, just to make sure Connie could get out. Steven laid down in his sleeping bag, and went to bed.

The fact that Steven left the door open worried Connie. She wanted the door to be closed, so then no one could come in. But she would have to make due.

Connie laid down in her sleeping bag, but she couldn't sleep. She was tossing and turning, and just could not get to sleep. She just thought she needed a midnight snack, that's it. She went out of Rose's room to grab a midnight snack. She made sure she was slow and careful, just so people wouldn't think she was up and about. She had nearly forgot about her worries earlier today. Hopefully all of this would be over, because Connie couldn't keep lying to Steven. It made her feel bad, and she couldn't keep this up.

She tiptoed to the fridge, and opened it slowly. The light inside was nearly blinding, in contrast to the dark atmosphere around her. It definitely made for some weird shadows around her. Connie didn't pay attention to those, she'd end up overworking herself. Making herself paranoid. Connie grabbed the milk. She also grabbed a glass from the shelf.

Not plastic. Connie wasn't dumb. She knew what to do. She was grabbing glass for her own safety. Glass breaks.

If someone were to grab her, she would sure as hell drop the glass. And then, it would shatter. One of the gems, maybe Steven, would definitely hear it. Or hopefully they would. Who knows if Connie could scream as well?

Connie poured the milk into the glass and opened the white refrigerator once more. The light was still blinding, and made everything look so dark that wasn't the fridge. Connie held the glass tightly. Something didn't seem right. She put the milk back into the fridge and closed it.

On her side was a male figure. And it was not Steven.

Connie dropped the glass instantly as she realised who it was. It was her father. The glass shattered on impact. She could hear a muffled 'damnit', but that's all she could really hear. Everything went so fast. The bag came out of nowhere. She was getting forced into it. Se fought back hard, but she was losing. She had nothing to do except for scream.

Connie shrieked. It was the loudest scream she had ever screamed. Then everything went black as she was forced into the bag, nearly unconscious. She felt herself being put in a car, probably in the trunk. She could feel the car as it drove off, away from Steven.

 **A/N: Yeah! Steven defying gender rules for the win!**

 **Anyway, did I say closure? Sorry, I meant cliffhanger! Closure should be in the next chapter. I didn't want to put two chapters into one. It would have seemed rushed, and would have been way too long. For this story at least. I love doing more than 2000 words, but for a story like this, making it more than 3000 isn't really what I have in mind.**

 **So, pretty neat cliffhanger, huh? I'm going to try and update this as soon as possible! I just have to update Betrayed, Separation, and Power before that! Sorry about that! I'll try and write quickly, but not rushed. So, try to expect it in the next week or two. No promises, but that's what I'm aiming for.**

 **I hope you like my fic so far!**


	11. Kidnapped: Part 2: The End

We Protect Each Other 11

 **A/N: Like I said, a week or two. I just needed to update my other stories first. So, now I can move on to this one! Time to actually resolve this arc. That means this will be a longer chapter than usual, but I refuse to end on a cliffhanger like that again.**

 **Anyway, let's move on to the story!**

Steven woke with a jolt. He jumped up as quickly as he could. He ran out the door to see that Connie was gone. Steven could have sworn a scream woke him up.

All he saw was Amethyst.

"Amethyst?" Steven asks uneasily. Amethyst's head whips around, worry on her face.

"Oh, hey Steven." She answers quietly. Amethyst looks out the window of the beach house. She looks down at something. Amethyst gasps, and runs to the Temple Door. She starts to bang on it. "Garnet! Pearl!"

Garnet's door opens first, "I know what happened, is Steven outside?"

"Um, Garnet?" Steven asks. Garnet sighs with relief. Pearl's door opens next.

"Amethyst what is the meaning of this?" Pearl shouts. Garnet whispers a few words in Pearl's ear, and her expression goes from angry to horrified in just a few seconds.

Amethyst puts her hands to her head, "What are we going to do?"

"Gems! Are we forgetting about Steven?" Garnet interrupts.

"Oh, of course. What do we say?" Pearl turns to Garnet. Garnet makes a quiet noise, and steps over to Steven.

"I'm sorry Steven, but Connie is… gone." Garnet states.

"What?"

"Her parents came for her. Just a few minutes ago if I'm right."

"Why didn't you save her?"

"What?"

"You have future vision! You knew about this! You could have saved her!" Steven shouts.

"Steven, it doesn't work like that, there are too many possibilities."

"But there were at least a few where Connie was taken! Couldn't you have waited but here to see?"

"Steven! Dude, chill out! Just because Garnet has future vision doesn't mean she can see everything." Amethyst butts in.

Steven sighs, "Right, I'm sorry, it's just, how are we going to get Connie back?"

''We can't do it now. You are too exhausted Steven." Garnet instructs.

Steven yawns, "No I'm not!"

"Come on Steven. We'll retrieve Connie first thing in the morning. But right now her parents are probably in a car. We don't know exactly where they are. Garnet can use her future vison all night to find the most likely spot in the morning." Pearl tries.

"You're right." Steven gives in. He sulks into Rose's Room and shuts the door.

Amethyst looks at Pearl, "You better not have been lying." She walks into her room.

"I hope I wasn't." Pearl tells herself.

 _A Few Hours Later…_

When Steven got up, he was refreshed. He was ready. Ready to save Connie. What could be happening to her? Steven never expected Connie's parents to be like this.

Steven walked out of Rose's Room to see the gems standing there.

"Steven, I think I've figured out where to go." Garnet states.

"Really? Great! Just one second!" Steven shouts. He runs back into Rose's room and comes out with papers, a lot of them. "Before we go and get Connie, I'm going to hand these out, just in case she comes back to Beach City or something."

"Well Steven, I don't think that-" Pearl states, but she is cut off.

"That's a great idea Steven." Garnet interrupts. She takes some of the papers, and so does Amethyst, and lastly Pearl does too. They all head out to Beach City.

 **S:S:S:S:S:S:S:S:**

All of the Gems split up. They give a paper to everyone. They all explain in their own way what has happened. Steven starts to explain to Ronaldo.

"And Connie's parents came and took her!" Steven finishes.

"That proves it then! Sneeple are real! They've taken the form as Connie's parents! If I see them, I will unmask them to the public!" Ronaldo claims. He takes the flyer from Steven and runs to the fry shop.

Amethyst goes to Greg.

"Man, this is terrible. While you guys start looking, let me hand out some of these flyers." Greg takes some of the flyers and starts to hand them out. Amethyst starts putting the flyers on buildings. She talks to Vidalia as well, because that was another human she really knew.

Pearl goes to Mayor Dewey first.

"In this fair city? I don't believe it!" Mayor Dewey exclaims.

"Well it's real, and is happening." Pearl tells him.

"Well, hot one, I bet I can get the whole city to find out about this." Mayor Dewey climbs into his van and makes a new chant.

"KIDNAP KIDNAP! KIDNAP KIDNAP! TOWN MEETING! TOWN MEETING!"

Pearl looks on in disbelief as people start to look at the truck.

Garnet goes to Jamie. She explains the situation, but very stoically.

"Once this is all over, I might just make a play of this! I'll hand out some more fliers for you." Jamie offers. Garnet hands him the whole stack. The biggest stack. Jamie struggles with it, but Garnet had already walked away before he could ask for some help.

 _30 Minutes Later…_

A town meeting had started to commence. Steven and the gems were the focus, and nearly everyone in the town was looking at them.

"And Connie's parents took her away! Garnet, Pearl, Amethyst, and I are going to go look for her. But if you guys have any leads, or if you see her, make sure she's safe. We'll be back soon!" Steven barks into the megaphone. All of the gems climb on Lion, and they warp off to where Garnet predicted Connie would be.

They warp to Connie's apartment. They see that the door is unlocked. Key mistake. They all sneak inside, except for Lion of course. They don't see anything except for the bag that was used to take Connie.

"They are upstairs." Garnet states. Everyone starts to carefully go up the stairs. They hear a few sounds come from the biggest bedroom. Everyone starts to go in front of Steven. Pearl stays back to keep Steven away. He wouldn't be able to handle anything too horrible.

Amethyst carefully cracks open the door. She sees Connie and her parents there.

"Let me go!" Connie cries.

"You are our child, and you had no right to run off like that." Connie's mom tells her. There was evidence of Connie already being hurt. There were bruises on her arms. She had a bandage on her head. Connie's glasses were broken. Amethyst growled.

"If you think your behavior was acceptable, then you better be expecting a beating." Connie's dad says. He has a metal (obviously hot and used) ruler in his hand. He is wearing gloves.

Connie looks at the ruler and flinches, "Please! No!"

"Quiet! Someone will hear." Connie's dad demands. He holds a weapon to Connie's head. A gun, it looked like. Connie started to cry a little bit, it was uncontrollable. Amethyst started to go inside the room, as she shapeshifted into a snake. Garnet went in after her, but very quietly.

Amethyst shapeshifted back to her normal self and used her whip to snatch the gun out of Connie's dad's hands. The gun was shot, but it didn't hit anyone. Amethyst made the gun go straight back to her. Garnet came running in. She ran towards Connie's dad, and punched him in the gut. He hit the wall and was knocked unconscious.

"What the hell?" Connie's mom exclaims. Connie doesn't say anything. Pearl barges in and throws her spear at Connie's mom. She dodges the attack. Connie's mom starts to run towards the door, but Steven is standing there. He doesn't move, and stands there. Connie's mom starts sprinting, and she pushes him out of the way. Steven hits the wall, but he brushes himself off and runs to Connie. He unties Connie from the chair.

"Connie!" Steven shouts with worry. Connie doesn't say anything, it was like she was paralyzed. Amethyst looks out the window and sees Connie's mom getting into her car.

"Guys! Connie's mom is getting away!" Amethyst points out.

"That isn't of our concern, Amethyst. We need to make sure Connie is alright." Pearl replies. Amethyst still looks out the window, but after Connie's mom pulls out of the driveway, she runs over to Connie. Pearl, knowing the most here about human injuries, checks Connie's injuries. She gives the all clear. Amethyst also lends her surprising knowledge about poisons. Amethyst tells that Connie has not been poisoned. _This time._

"Connie? Say something!" Steven shakes Connie slightly. Connie makes a small noise. Steven smiles slightly, "She's okay!"

"Come on everyone, we need to get back to Beach City." Garnet orders. Everyone nods. Garnet picks Connie up as everyone else runs down the stairs. Garnet carries Connie downstairs. Everyone gets on Lion, and Lion warps back to Beach City.

After going through the warp, all of the gems and Connie land in the middle of the town. Lion collapses, and everyone nearly falls off. The inhabitants of the town run to their aid.

"Steven!" Greg runs up. The town becomes closer, and everyone crowds around. They check to make sure Connie is okay as well, and just as the gems said, it seemed she didn't need medical attention. "How could this happen?"

Everyone in the town was surprised when Ronaldo didn't even say one of his theories. Sadie leaned into Lars, and Lars didn't complain. Even _Onion_ had a shocked look on his face. It was silent in the group, until Steven spoke up.

"Now what will we do?"

No one answers, because there wasn't an answer to be told. Everyone was baffled. Everyone was speechless. Not a noise was heard, even the crashing of the waves seemed dull.

That was, until a car pulled up. No one looked up to see who it was however. Footsteps could be heard across the sand. People started to make a commotion. Someone was cutting in through the crowd. The question, was who?

"Get away from my kid!"

Connie's mom stepped into the circle. Steven moved in front of Connie more. The gems looked aggressive. _Very_ aggressive.

"Well, did you hear me? That is my daughter, and you can't be near her!" Connie's mom demands. Steven doesn't say anything, and holds Connie tight. Connie moves closer to him.

"Get away from her." Amethyst growls.

"No!" Connie's mom retorts. Amethyst is about to jump at her, but Pearl holds her back. Pearl steps up. She takes something out of her gem. She takes out a piece of paper and a pen.

"Priyanka Maheswaran, I'll need you to sign these papers." Pearl states calmly. She hands over them items to Connie's mom. She reads what the papers say.

"Hell no! Connie is mine, and I will never let her go. Especially to you freaks!" Connie's mom snaps. She drops the stuff on the ground.

"Well she isn't going back to you either, lady!" Amethyst retorts.

"She will! She is my daughter, and I can do what I want with her! You have no right to take her away!"

"We do if you can't take care of her properly!" Pearl points out.

"I don't know who you think you are, but you are not getting her!"

"Go away!" Steven butts in. Connie's mom looks around.

"Fair city, don't you see? These aliens are a danger. They are taking away a child," Connie's mom persuades. The crowd looks between Connie's mom, and the gems. "They have caused other invaders to come here to our planet. Please, help me get my child from these freaks. And then, help me kick them out."

"You are nuts, lady." Greg states.

"Yeah! No way! They provide the weirdness to this town!" Ronaldo argues.

"And looking at Connie, we don't think you're a fit parent at all, punk!" Barbara shouts.

The town starts to go by Steven's side. Mayor Dewey picks up the paper left on the ground by Connie's mom.

"Everyone! Let's get her to sign the paper!" Mayor Dewey suggests. He starts to chant, "Sign the paper! Sign the paper!"

The other residents join in, "SIGN THE PAPER! SIGN THE PAPER!"

Connie's mom looks away. She knows when she is beaten. The citizens watch her. She takes the pen off the ground, and signs the paper. Everyone starts to cheer.

"Now get out of town!" Mayor Dewey shouts. Connie's mom nods.

"Fine, just one last thing." She states. She reaches into her pocket. She pulls out a gun. She aims it at Connie. "If I can't have her, no one can!"

"Mom please stop!" Connie shouts. She starts to cry. The crowd steps back. The gems get ready to fight.

"What are we going to do?" Amethyst whispers.

"I don't know. We can't charge at her." Garnet whispers back.

Steven moves his hands behind his back. The gems are standing behind him, and therefore see what he is doing. Steven summons two shields, which strains him. Steven starts to sweat.

"Steven no! You haven't trained for this yet!" Pearl shouts. It was too late. The shields were at full size. Steven puts a shield in front of Connie, and he throws one at Connie's mom. Ronaldo throws something at Connie's mom, and smoke starts to spread. A gunshot is heard in the air, and no one knows what happened.

The smoke starts to clear up, and everything is seen. Connie is safe, and Steven's shield is still in front of her. Connie's mom is on her car, and blood is coming from her. There was a wound on her head. It wasn't a gunshot wound, but something had hit her. Steven's shield was gone from where she was.

The smoke cleared from the gems. Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl look at the scene. Pearl drops her weapon, and Amethyst drops hers. A gasp goes through the crowd. And it wasn't because of Connie's mom.

Connie follows everyone's eyes and she looks up at Steven. Steven, who looked exhausted and ready to faint. Steven, who was hyperventilating. Steven, who had a hole in his arm.

Steven falls backwards. He doesn't go straight into his gem, so the gems rush over to him. Pearl carefully takes the bullet out of Steven. She gets anything medical out of her gem. She starts to put medicine on the wound. Then, a bandage. But it was clear that Steven was unconscious, and would need to go to the hospital.

As for Connie's mom? There was no hope for her, she was dead.

Greg called 911 and the ambulance came. Steven, Pearl, Connie, and Greg got on it, leaving Garnet and Amethyst to clean up. They go over to Connie's mom to see what happened.

At first they thought that Steven's shield throwing is what killed her, but further investigations in the future showed what really happened.

 _What Happened:_

 _The shield went straight towards Connie's mom. She managed to stop it with her hand somehow, but she didn't have a lot of strength. The shield at that point was going to hit her._

 _The gun was right in front of the shield. Connie's mom fired it. The force of the gun made her hand go back, which hit the shield. Connie's mom couldn't hold it anymore, and the shield hit her right in the head, killing her instantly._

Garnet and Amethyst looked at each other, unsure of what to do. All they were sure of, is that Connie was okay. And would be okay.

 _Epilogue…_

Steven wakes up in the hospital. Connie is right by his side, asleep. Steven's arm felt fine.

"How are you feeling Steven?" Pearl asks.

"Is Connie going to feel okay?" Steven inquires.

"Yeah Shtoo-ball, she'll be just fine." Greg answers.

"Well, then I'll be fine too." Steven replies. He looks at Connie. "Just fine."

 **A/N: Well this was a big one wasn't it? Worth the wait? I was originally going to have Steven shot in the same place (SPOILERS!) Sherlock was shot. But I decided that the arm was better.**

 **So yeah, Connie's Mom is dead. Major development there. I just really tried on this one, and I could just hear background music in my head. I had a Doctor Who, Sherlock, and DBZ vibe going on in there. Even some ATLA. Anyway, I really hope this was worth the wait. Not that I made you guys wait that long, but that sure was one hell of a cliffhanger!**

 **I hope you like my fic so-**

 ***distorted voice* Wait, I'm not done yet. Oh no, there's more. Enjoy this second epilogue I suppose.**

 **BONUS SCENE:**

Connie's dad woke up. The room he was in was a little trashed. The lights flickered from him hitting the wall. The chair Connie was in was empty.

Those bastards must have taken her. Now how will she ever get her punishment? Where was his wife as well? Where was anybody?

He walked around the room. He could hear the door close.

"You're going to pay for what you've done." He heard a voice say. Was that that purple gem? "Maybe you already have. Your wife is dead."

A figure come out of the shadows. Amethyst. She and Garnet were left to clean up. So that's exactly what she was going to do.

"You know what my job is?" Amethyst asks.

"What, bitch?" Doug answers.

"To protect the people of this world. To defend Earth. And that's what I'm planning on doing."

"So why are you here?"

"You've hurt Connie one too many times. Your wife is dead. All I need to do is help defend the planet even more."

Doug stands up. He starts to go towards the door. Amethyst summons her whip, and she hits it right in front of him. Doug stumbles back and falls on the ground.

Amethyst feels weird. Like this isn't how to go about it. But her instincts tell her this is how she is going to defend Earth. She listens to her instincts.

Amethyst grabs her whip. She gets close to Doug.

"Get away!" He shouts.

"Too late for that."

Amethyst dashes next to Doug. She wraps her whip around him. Around his _neck._ Doug starts to cough. Then he starts to choke. Then, he does nothing as he falls limp and hits the floor.

Amethyst grabs the rope she brought and ties it to the fan on the ceiling. She hangs Doug's body from it.

"I protected the Earth from you." She says.

Amethyst opens the door and walks out. She slams the door shut as she walks away.

 **A/N: Now all done! Just a tiny nod to Homeworld Amethyst coming out. Remember everything is connected. I also just needed some bad gems. Or bad Amethyst at least.**

 **Though seriously, I need sociopath levels of cold Amethyst. I need it.**


	12. Kidnapped: Aftermath

We Protect Each Other 12

 **A/N: And here we are! Back to this story! As I write this Author's Note, an idea has popped right into my head. As you an already figure out, this story has diverged from canon, so it's not like I have to say when I uploaded this chapter. But anyway, when I wrote this, the leaks for those new episodes with SPOILERS Lapis and Malachite in them have been released. Well, let's just get to the chapter shall we?**

 **Oh, and I think I need a new font format thing. For singing, it will look like this:** _"Singing stuff"_ **So it will look like thoughts, but it will have quotation marks.**

Steven laid in his hospital bed. He would be able to leave this place soon. Today, he hoped. His dad said that the gems were working it out with the medical staff, and of course, Pearl was arguing because she refused to let her little Steven sit in a bed with a pink cast on his arm and pink tubes in him.

He had only been at the hospital for a few days now, but Steven was starting to believe Pearl. Did the doctors and nurses know how to treat him? He was a half-gem after all. Steven didn't know if he would react normally to the medicine. The doctors gave him a pink bottle of medicine every day. Steven didn't like it, the taste was terrible.

He was also starting to get sick of the hospital room. He wanted to be outside. He wanted to help the gems! Not just watch these pinkish lights flicker all day. Steven looked out the window. It was sunrise, it seemed. The clouds had a pink tint.

Connie was next to him, but she hadn't said anything to him for days!

But, on the contraire, that was quite the opposite. Connie was on his side, reading him a story. Steven wasn't paying attention, he was too lost in his own thoughts. Connie looked up from the older book and saw that Steven was looking out into the middle of nowhere.

Her attempts to try and get him to respond to something were futile. It seemed it was just getting worse. And it wasn't Steven's health either! Steven was perfectly fine, at least that's how the doctor's put it. But it was like Steven was in his own little world. Connie had tried to talk to hi on multiple occasions, and Steven wouldn't say a word and wouldn't even spare her a glance. Was Steven doing this on purpose? Connie dreaded to think so, but she didn't have many other choices.

Steven was too silent for her tastes. Something must have been wrong with him. What was wrong with Steven? Connie couldn't believe she kept this from the gems, but she wasn't going to any longer. She was going to tell them that there was something wrong with Steven. Hopefully they wouldn't get mad… Connie winced at the idea.

 **S:S:S:S:S:**

"He hasn't been responding at all?" Pearl asks. She sits down and places her finger to her chin.

Connie nods, "That's right. I don't know if he's even been listening! It just wouldn't seem like Steven to not make any attempt at communication."

"That's weird." Amethyst looks over at Steven. "Yo Steven! Time to stop playing around!"

Again, no answer from Steven.

"Aw man." Amethyst mumbles.

"Gems, I don't like where this is going." Garnet states. Pearl thinks for a second longer, and a look of worry plasters on her face.

"Everyone, I think I know what's wrong with Steven." Pearl exclaims. She stands up.

"Well what is it P? Spill." Amethyst demands. Pearl rolls her eyes.

Pearl looks at Connie, "Well first, Connie, has Steven said anything, mumbled anything, made any gestures!"

"Well, um… he did mumble gem one or two times, and he kept putting his hands close to his gem. I thought he was dreaming. B-but, I guess he wasn't. Sorry, I should have said earlier." Connie grabs her arm.

"Don't sweat it." Amethyst states. She pats Connie on the back. A little too hard, since Connie had bruises, but Connie didn't mind.

"Well this just further proves by theory." Pearl points out.

"Pearl, what do suppose happened to Steven?" Garnet asks.

"Just think about it. Wouldn't Steven have gone into his gem from that injury?" Pearl questions.

"Well yeah, I guess, but he didn't, so what's the problem?" Amethyst asks.

"The problem is, Amethyst, that Steven might think he is in his gem. He is locked in some sort of stasis in his mind. He believes that he is regenerating, while he isn't actually." Pearl explains.

Garnet thinks to herself, then speaks up, "How will we get him out of it?"

"Well, there's two possibilities I am thinking of," Pearl walks over to Steven and examines him, "Firstly, he could finish his made up regeneration, and just wake up. Or…" Pearl starts to trail off. She looks down.

"Pearl." Garnet brings Pearl back to focus.

Pearl shudders, "Or he could be trapped. Steven might not know how to stop his mind regeneration cycle. Or something else could be stopping him. With no knowledge of this happening, I'm afraid I don't know how to help Steven."

Connie looks at Steven worriedly, "S-so there's a chance… he might never wake up?!"

"Y-yes." Pearl stutters. "But maybe there's a way we could get him out of it!" Pearl fakes a smile.

Connie walks over to Steven. _'Well, maybe the first thing Pearl said will happen. Like, it's only been a few days. Steven said that when Pearl regenerated, it took her a whole two weeks!'_

"Gems. We'll need to call Greg." Garnet states. Everyone looks at each other.

 **S:S:S:S:S:S:**

Turns out Garnet was the one to call Greg. The general consensus was that Amethyst wouldn't sound serious, Pearl would get too emotional, and Greg didn't have that many ties to Connie. Little did the Crystal Gems know that that little fact wasn't true.

Greg bursts in the hospital room, "Steven! Oh thank goodness!" Greg looks at Steven. Steven's eyes were closed, and it just looked like he was sleeping, as everything else was in order.

"We will be taking him back to the Temple. Today." Garnet informs Greg.

" _Today?_ Are you sure? I mean, has the hospital even finis-" Greg is cut off by Pearl.

"Yes. The hospital has done all of their simple tests. We'll be able to do a more thorough check on Steven when we take him back to the Temple." Pearl explains.

"Yeah, nothing against the hospital or whatever, but Steven is a gem like us. I don't think this place knows how to treat him." Amethyst adds. The Gems start to talk amongst themselves about Steven. They walk out of the room. Connie is sitting in the chair beside Steven's bed. She reads the book she brought. She reads it out loud, but quietly. She knew Steven wouldn't react, and there was no use making any more noise.

Greg notices her, and he steps over to her.

"How you holdin' up?" He asks. Connie looks up. She figures he is talking about Steven.

"As well as I can be. All I want is for Steven to be okay." Connie answers. Greg doesn't say anything else. He just sits down on the chair on the other side of Steven. He tunes the ukulele he brought with him.

"I don't know if Steven will be able to hear this, but I think I'll play a little song for him anyway." Greg states. Once the ukulele is tuned, he starts to strum. Connie sets her book down, and pays attention to Greg.

 _"I guess she was right when she said you'd be new,_

 _But I didn't know it end up hurting you._

 _Trapped inside, your own mind,_

 _What's it like? What's it like?_

 _Oh Steven, Steven,_

 _It'll be okay,_

 _Oh Steven, Steven,_

 _You'll be able to face another day~_

 _So why don't you wake up for me?_

 _Wake up for the gems and Connie~_

 _Shot in the arm, it just ain't right,_

 _But you're Steven, and I know you'll put up a fight._

 _We have faith in you,_

 _Oh we have faith in you~_

 _So why don't you wake up for me?_

 _Wake up for the gems and Connie~_

 _Oh Steven I know you can!_

 _You're different, I know that, and,_

 _I know you'll be fine~_

 _So why don't you wake up for me?_

 _Wake up for the gems and Connie~_

 _Oh why'd it have to turn out this way?_

 _Couldn't this have been another normal day?_

 _But I suppose things aren't perfect,_

 _And I suppose that it was worth… it~"_

Greg puts down the guitar. He mumbled to himself, saying that the song wasn't that great. He stands up, and walks out of the room himself.

Connie thought it was a great song. She looked at Steven. Her eyes lit up with joy when she saw Steven was moving. She tried saying something to him, but he didn't answer. But it was like he was responding to the song. Does that mean he is almost done regenerating?

Connie sighed. Steven had stopped moving. Connie had more confidence that Steven would wake up though. He must have been close. _He must have._

 _The Next Day…_

Connie had returned from the Temple to the hospital. The gems had to take her to the Temple so she could sleep and eat. But soon enough the next day came, and she was at the hospital by Steven's side again.

The gems thought her dedication was touching. Well, except for Amethyst. She thought it was nice, but it reminded her of Pearl and Rose. Something she didn't really want to think about.

Steven was actually moving slightly that day. Twitching his eyes, moving some of his fingers slightly. And this was constant, so it was improvement. The gems were optimistic. Pearl said that it was more likely that he would just finish his mind regeneration like any normal gem would. Then hopefully everything would be back to normal.

The gems were at the Temple, leaving only Connie and Steven. Greg wouldn't be able to make it until later that day, so Connie sat alone.

She looked at the bandage on her hand, _'Just another reminder of that terrible day.'_ She thought. Connie had another book with her, but she just didn't have the will to read it. Would Steven even hear her? Was Connie doing what she could to help?

Connie wasn't sure. She wanted to do all she can, but what if there was more she could do?

Connie looked down at the book, maybe Steven would hear it. It was an adaptation of Dogcopter. It was a little more adult than the movies were. Connie supposed she'd read it out loud for Steven.

"Dogcopter opened his eyes. He realised that he was in an unfamiliar place, taken there by an unfamiliar person…"

 _A Few Hours Later…_

"Dogcopter knew that his only choice would be to make this place blow, even if it meant obliterating himself in the process."

Connie looked up from the book. She had gotten so caught up in it that she wasn't looking at Steven very often. Connie stood up quickly as she checked on Steven. Steven wasn't doing those mini moves anymore, and something seemed to be wrong with him! The tubes that were on him had fallen off, did he jerk them off? And his heart rate was all wrong! Connie had to get the gems. But how?

Connie ran to the nearest phone to call them. They had a phone there, right? Wait, even if they did, she didn't know it!

"Um… um… aha!" Connie thought of an idea. She called Steven's phone. She hoped as hard as she could that his phone was in the Temple. Connie waited on the phone to be picked up. She didn't hear it in the room, so it was hopefully at the Temple. Soon enough the phone had been answered. "Hello?"

"Hey Connie. It's Amethyst. What's up?" Amethyst answers.

"It's Steven! You guys have to get down here quick. Something's wrong with him!" Connie practically shouts into the phone.

There was a pause on the line, until Pearl picked up, "Steven! What's wrong with him? What happened?"

"I don't know. I was reading this book to him, and then when I check on him, everything was wrong! All of his tubes were off, and his heart rate was on the fritz!"

"We'll be there immediately." Garnet states. Even though she was trying to sound as emotionless and urgent as possible, the panic in her voice was audible. The line went dead, and Connie was stuck pacing back in forth in the hospital room.

Not even 5 minutes later, the gems arrived. Garnet burst open the door, breaking it. And before the doctors came in to reprimand her, they saw Steven's condition and started going to take him to the emergency room.

"You can't take Steven! Not now!" Pearl shouts. The doctors disagreed. "You don't understand! He isn't like you!"

The doctors didn't listen and started to put Steven on a gurney. Amethyst, who had already had enough, grabbed Steven with her whip. An impulsive move, but enough to get Steven away from the human doctors.

"Amethyst! What are you doing? Steven is in a fragile state right now!" Pearl argues.

"Are we going to have to go through this now? We have to go!" Amethyst retorts.

"Amethyst is right. Come on gems, we need to get Steven to the Temple. Now. Amethyst, you take Connie back. Pearl and I will take Steven and we'll gather up some of the healing water from Rose's fountain." Garnet orders. Amethyst nods. The gems dash off, Garnet carrying Steven. Amethyst goes with Connie, but at a slower pace.

"Do you think Steven will be okay?" Connie asked.

Amethyst was normally going to be honest, like usual, but she saw the fear in Connie's eyes, and she couldn't bear to tell her that Steven has a 50/50 chance of not waking up ever again. "Yeah, pfft, he's Steven! He'll be fine."

Connie puts on a slight smile as they run off towards the Temple.

 _Minutes Later…_

Connie slams the beach door open. She is panting, nearly about to faint, but she doesn't once she sees Steven laying on his bed. Garnet and Pearl were hunched over him, and they had Rose's tears in a cup.

"Okay Pearl, you know the plan." Garnet tells Pearl. Connie runs up the stairs to see what was happening. Pearl carefully pours the tears into Steven's mouth. Garnet lifts Steven up so the water could go down his throat.

Amethyst comes up the stairs to see what was happening as well. Steven didn't have any response. Greg eventually comes in as well.

' _They must've called him.'_ Connie thought, as Greg had some soap bubbles in his hair. They looked like the normal car wash ones. Greg looks at Steven as though he were dead. He looked devastated. He thought that he was failure of a parent, and that he had failed Rose if he couldn't keep his only son alive for more than 14 years.

"Pearl, check his heart rate." Garnet orders. Pearl nods. She slowly moves her shaking hand over to Steven's heart. Pearl was on the verge of tears before she put her hand on his heart. She counts for a minute and then stands up.

"It's normal again." Pearl sighs in relief.

"Oh thank goodness!" Greg exclaims. Amethyst smiles. Steven wasn't awake yet, but this was an improvement. To everyone except for Connie. Steven still didn't move. All he had was a normal heart rate. And he had that before!

Connie thought this was her fault. If she hadn't read to Steven, he would still be on the road to recovery! Connie started to cry. She leaped over and hugged Steven, crying into his shoulder even though he wasn't awake.

"Steven, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen. I didn't want to hurt you like this!" Connie whispers to him. To Connie's-and everyone else's-surprise, Connie felt a hand on her back. It wasn't Greg or any of the gems. She felt Steven's shoulder move, and Connie felt embraced. Her hug was being _returned._

"Hey, it's not your fault. Heh, maybe I should've listened… to Pearl."

"Steven?" Connie pulled back. She looked and saw that Steven's eyes were open. How? He was in the middle of is regeneration! "But-but, you were just lying there, how are you awake?"

"I don't know, actually. I can't remember." Steven looks down and away, as if he were ashamed.

"How about we figure all that out later. We're glad to have you back schtoo-ball." Greg states. Everyone gets in a group hug. Steven and Connie look at each other, blush and look away.

All was right in the world. For now.

 **A/N: I swear my chapters are looking like the end of stories! This isn't though! Oh no, I plan on making these drabbles for a while! They're fun to make! This chapter wasn't prompted. Oh, and since nearly everything is covered from this Connie arc, I need some new prompts! Seriously, I love doing those!**

 **So send your requests in! They can be AU requests if you want. I really don't care, I'll just have to say that they are AUs. Because remember, this is just a collection of drabbles that are tied together. Unless they are different AUs, then they are separate.**

 **Oh, and did you enjoy my little song? Yeah, I'll do those from time to time too. If I feel like it anyway. I would suggest a tune to put the song to, but I seriously had different tunes for it when I was making the song, so whichever tune you put the song to works for you, just do it.**

 **Well, sorry to keep you guys waiting too! I've been so busy, and it's not letting up anytime soon :(**

 **I hope you like my fic so far!**


	13. Perma-Stevonnie -AU-

We Protect Each Other 13

 **A/N: Hello everyone! And I'm back with another chapter of We Protect Each Other! I believe we are finally back to the normal format (where I get suggestions and make oneshot or multipart chapters based on them). So, requests are most definitely open.**

 **THIS CHAPTER WILL BE AN AU.**

 **Yeah, this chapter is an AU. Possibly. I just had a little prediction in my mind for Steven Universe, and I just had to make a chapter on this. I'll name this prediction/AU at the end A/N, because if I did now, that would ruin any surprise.**

 **Well, let's begin!**

"Aah!"

Stevonnie, plated in their rose gold armor, hit the ground after slicing Yellow Diamond with Rose's sword. Yellow Diamond turned around, fury in her eyes. Stevonnie glanced at the only other gems who weren't in their gems. Ruby and Sapphire, unfused, glanced back. Amethyst looked up, barely able to stand her ground. She held Pearl's gem tight, making sure that Yellow Diamond couldn't break her.

Peridot, with her new star covered limb enhancers, laid on the ground, looking up to show that she was indeed okay. Well, relatively okay.

Stevonnie, more determined than ever to save their friends, lunged at Yellow Diamond with the sword. Shield in hand, she collided with her. Yellow Diamond started to push forward, and Stevonnie barely stood their ground, but they did well enough.

"Listen, you fusion scum, you have failed. This planet will be under Homeworld's control once again. And no fusion will be able to stop it. And if we can't have this world, the Cluster will be a good enough substitute." Yellow Diamond starts to make Stevonnie lose their balance.

Stevonnie grunts, and starts to push forward again, Rose's sword right against Yellow Diamond's, "No! I can't let you destroy this planet!"

Yellow Diamond, realising that if she kept pushing against this fusion would be endless, pulled her sword up and jumped back. Stevonnie fell forward but caught themselves. Yellow Diamond however, would not let this fusion keep fighting. How could a human and a gem be a match for her? She threw her sword down, right in the middle of Stevonnie. The gems around gasped, and Yellow Diamond smirked.

Stevonnie kept themselves together long enough to grasp Rose's sword, and stab it straight through Yellow Diamond's gem. It was a remarkable feat, as Stevonnie could barely see, since all of their long hair was in the way. Yellow Diamond poofed instantly, and her gem was cracked. When Yellow Diamond's gem hit the ground, it shattered on impact. Leaving the tyrant dead.

Stevonnie gasped for air, and started to breathe heavily. They let themselves unfuse, and a smoke appeared as Steven and Connie fell out of the fusion. Steven sat up first, breathing hard.

He smiled and looked at the rest of the gems, "We did it!" It took everyone a second, but they started to clap and cheer, knowing that Yellow Diamond was dead. Steven's eyes darted around, trying to look for his best friend Connie. He looked behind him, and saw her body lying there.

"Connie, we did it!" Steven exclaimed. No answer came from Connie. Steven could see Connie's body rising up and down, so he knew she was breathing. "Connie?"

Steven, having a hurt leg, crawled over to his friend. He nearly vomited when seeing her body. "Connie!"

All the gems rushed over to Connie. She was laying on the ground, barely moving. Blood was spattered all over the young girl. Her arm appeared to be broken, and her leg had at least a fracture. Amethyst noticed something sticking out of Connie, and Amethyst nearly threw up thinking about what that could have been. Sapphire was horrified, and she, along with Ruby looked away.

Connie was bruised everywhere, and had deep scrapes and cuts. But the thing that had worried everyone the most was the yellow sword sticking out of her chest. It wasn't exactly where the heart was, but it was close to it. The sword Yellow Diamond had used was in Connie's chest.

"Oh no, pleasepleaseplease…" Steven stood up despite his leg injury and sat beside Connie. He checked her pulse. It didn't seem normal. "Guys, what will we do?"

No one answered, until stifled sobs came from Sapphire, "W-we can't-t get her t-t-to a hospital in time. It would t-take too long…" Sapphire started to sob. Steven started to cry too.

"No! Connie, come on, come on! I know you can do it! We're supposed to be Jam Buds, remember?" Steven starts to shake Connie's head slightly. Connie stirs awake, and her eyes are nearly closed. She rolls her head over to Steven and smiles. Steven hugs her and cries.

Soon, a glow goes around the both of them. Stevonnie was formed again.

Everyone gaped at the sight of the fusion. It wasn't because Stevonnie had formed, because Ruby and Sapphire could form Garnet that easily if they tried, but it was because Stevonnie looked just fine. Nothing was wrong with her. It was like both Steven and Connie were unharmed.

Ruby looked at Stevonnie, "How is this possible?"

Sapphire thinks for a second, "I think I have an idea," Sapphire walks to Stevonnie, "What if this was like, Gem stasis? But it's a fusion? Steven is injured, and Connie is critically injured. But, when they fused, it was like their injuries were relieved, and so Stevonnie is like life support."

"So, does that mean their injuries are healed now?" Amethyst asks. Sapphire looks down, unsure.

"Why don't we just find out? Um, Stevonnie… can you unfuse?" Peridot butts in. Stevonnie shrugs, unsure. They think about unfusing, and eventually smoke goes around them and they do.

Peridot jumps back, and everyone looks away.

"Oh my stars! Fuse back! Fuse back!" Peridot shouts, turning away as well.

Steven and Connie were on the ground again. Connie looked the same, but it seemed she had a little more blood on her. It also seemed like she was starting to look more like a rotting corpse, but was still alive. Steven looked worse than he did before, but not as bad as Connie. He had cuts and bruises all over him as well, and also had blood. Steven looked as though he was about to faint. He crawled slowly over to Connie, and they fused again.

Stevonnie was back, and they looked just fine. "Sapphire, I think you're right."

Sapphire starts to sob, and Ruby cries as well. Amethyst sniffles, trying to keep a calm composure. Peridot looks down, but doesn't cry. Amethyst feels a warmth in her hand. She lets Pearl's gem go, and she reforms.

"Ah, that's better." Pearl looks around. "What happened?"

Amethyst points to Stevonnie, and Pearl looks at the nearly perfect fusion "I don't understand what you mean."

"In the battle against Yellow Diamond, Connie became critically injured. This is the only way that they are safe. If we tried to take Connie to the hospital, she would have died." Sapphire explains. She sighs, "And even if we did take Stevonnie to the hospital, and unfuse her there, both Steven and Connie would die. Their separate conditions have become too critical now. Stevonnie is the only way they can survive."

Pearl puts her hand to her mouth and starts to cry, "Rose, I'm sorry I've failed you…"

Stevonnie just looks at themselves, and then looks at their gem, as the gems around are in tears.

 **S:S:S:S:S:S:S**

In just a few days after the attack on Earth, things had returned back to normal. Well, as normal as they could be. Stevonnie slept in Rose's room for the time being, until something was done with the beach house to expand it so there would be more room for them.

Pearl had barely come out of her room. And when she did, she seemed miserable. She had felt that she had failed her leader. And that she would never see Steven again. Garnet was only fused one time since Yellow Diamond came a few days ago. Ruby and Sapphire would fuse again, but after things were settled. They did it out of respect, and how it could be hard having two permanent fusions.

Pearl would never be able to form Rainbow Quartz again, or so she assumed. Since Stevonnie was mostly human, could they fuse with full gems? Or was Stevonnie even mostly human anymore? It seems to be the gem factor that was keeping Steven and Connie alive, so maybe Stevonnie was mostly gem.

Amethyst had seemed to act like things were normal the most. She was sad, but she bottled it up. Peridot spent a lot of time at the barn, so no one knew how she was coping. Amethyst looked nearly like she didn't care, but she really did. She liked Steven. And she liked Connie. But, she looked on the bright side. At least they were still with them and alive.

 _At least they were still with them and alive_. Even if it was as a permanent fusion.

Ruby and Sapphire were in their respective rooms, and so was Pearl. Stevonnie was sitting on the couch, thinking to themselves. Amethyst stood by the Temple door. She looked at Stevonnie. It seemed Steven and Connie made a system. Whenever Stevonnie looked closer to how Steven did, Steven would be in control, and it would be like talking to the little guy again.

Whenever Stevonnie looked closer to how Connie looked, then Connie was more in control. And when it was neither, either both or neither were in control.

Amethyst kept this a secret. Until the other gems had finished their misery, she'd tell them. So maybe in a few days. Amethyst noticed that it seemed both Steven and Connie were in control.

She slides on the couch next to Stevonnie. For some reason, sitting by the fusion made Amethyst want to cry.

Amethyst tries to hold herself together as she looks over to the new, permanent Stevonnie. She would never be able to see Steven by himself again. It would never be him.

"H-how do you f-feel?" She stutters, asking Stevonnie.

Stevonnie looks down, tears in their eyes.

"I feel amazing."

 **A/N: I thought of a name! This AU/Prediction will be called Perma-Stevonnie. I know, it's kinda already a thing, but whatever. So, I'll probably also publish this as a separate story as well, and it will probably be filled with more details, but, I guess that this is a sneak peek?**

 **It was so hard trying to keep the pronouns for Stevonnie as they/them, and not she/her. I hope there aren't any shes and hers there.**

 **Did I destroy your feels?**

 **I hope you like my fic so far!**


	14. He's Dead

We Protect Each Other 14

 **A/N: Ah, finally back to this one. Let me check to see if I have any prompts. Nope, none! So enjoy my straight from the mind work! Though many of my chapters have been like that anyway.**

 **Oh, and this is out of the Perma Stevonnie AU, if you didn't know.**

"Garnet, may I speak to you, _privately_?"

"Of course."

Shuffling is heard.

"Garnet, Connie's mother may be gone, but what about her companion. Connie's father? Where could he be?"

Garnet looks to the future, "There are too many possibilities for me to pinpoint where he might be. He could driving away now. He could be at home. He could be coming here, though that is rather unlikely. He could be…he could be…"

"Garnet, what's wrong? What did you see?"

"We must inform Amethyst. I believe I just saw what happened to him."

 **S:S:S:S:S**

Amethyst sat on the couch, not worried. Everything was right in the world it seemed. Well, not really. There were many things that she had to deal with, but everything for Steven and Connie was alright.

Garnet came out of the Temple door, "Amethyst!"

"W-what?" Amethyst replied. She shook up.

"We must go to Connie's old house, immediately."

Amethyst saw Garnet, and with that stern look on her face, there would be no use in arguing, "Uh, sure."

Amethyst's eyes darted around. She started to sweat slightly. She didn't feel guilty of course, but this all had gone according to how she saw this could be. They were going to Connie's house to inspect her father's dead body. The person _she_ killed. And she damn well wasn't feeling remorse. She felt a little twinge of pride, but she stomped that out of her mind. She felt indifferent about it, but made sure not to show it.

Pearl had followed Garnet out of the room. Pearl had made suspicions of her own, since Garnet didn't tell her what she saw. Everything Pearl thought of, all the thoughts about what has happened to Connie's father, none of them were good.

Before the gems leave, Amethyst just had to ask, "How are we going to get there?"

"We'll just use Lion." Garnet answers. Lion was standing on the beach. Pearl checked to see if Steven or Connie were in the house or the Temple. They weren't. At least anywhere they could go. She carefully closed the door, and followed Garnet and Amethyst.

The gems climbed on Lion, and Lion, without instruction, went to where was needed. He skidded across the pavement in front of Connie's old house. The wind blew as the gems stepped off. Garnet opened the door. It was dark in the house, so Pearl and Garnet used their gems to show light. Amethyst would have done so, but her gem wasn't in a formidable place for it.

The place was trashed. Part of it was because of Amethyst.

Amethyst looked at a broken table, _'Yeah…I might've been a little reckless.'_

Garnet and Pearl looked along in disbelief. Mostly from Pearl. She looked all throughout the first floor.

"Um, Garnet? I don't remember the ceiling being broken." Pearl states. Garnet and Amethyst walk over. They look up. There were chips in the ceiling.

 _'Yikes. Maybe I struck the floor too hard.'_ Amethyst thinks.

"Hmm." Garnet looks at the ceiling. She moves onto upstairs. Amethyst does as well. Pearl does reluctantly, ready to return downstairs for inspection. And possibly cleaning up.

Garnet goes into the upstairs bathroom. Amethyst goes into Connie's bedroom. She sees all the stuff in there. There were so many books, in perfect alphabetical order.

She scoffs, "Wow, this is Pearl's dream." She sees all of Connie's clothes, and she sees some of the drawings she's made on the walls. They weren't really that bad. One stuck out though. One that made Amethyst be rid of any remorse she might have felt.

It was a picture of Connie's mother and father. It seemed to be old, when Connie was younger. 8 maybe? They were stick figures, but they were horribly disfigured. But this wasn't a normal 8 year old drawing type disfigure. No, the parents looked evil. Especially Connie's father. Connie wasn't in the picture at all.

Amethyst noticed a torn part on the end of the picture, "Was Connie on this part?" She mumbles. Amethyst hears Garnet go towards the parents' bedroom, so she leaves Connie's old room.

Before Amethyst could go in, Garnet called out, "Pearl, come in here!"

Pearl hurried over to where Garnet was shouting from. She gasped when she saw the scene. She started to tremble.

"I-Is this w-what you saw?" Pearl quietly inquired. Garnet nodded. The scene wasn't that bloody, but the mess of the room, and the centerpiece of the seemingly suicidal Connie's father made it traumatizing. Well, it would have been to Steven or Connie. Amethyst had done the deed, and Pearl and Garnet had seen much worse than a hung human.

Garnet was the first to step in the room. The floor creaked with every step. Pearl kept right behind her, looking out from behind her as well. Amethyst comes in as well, trying to a shocked face.

"Did he really _do_ this to himself?" Amethyst asked. Garnet looks around the body. She didn't know much about medical matters, so she assumed that he did it to himself.

"Yes, that's what it seems." She answers.

Pearl looks at the body, "But why?"

"Well, uh, maybe it's 'cause we took his…punching bag." Amethyst answers.

Pearl whips her head at the purple quartz, "Amethyst! Don't use terms like that!"

"What else would I say? You should have seen the picture in Connie's room! And we saw it with my own eyes! I can't lie!"

"Amethyst, please. We shouldn't talk about it like that."

"I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm just telling the truth."

"Gems, _he_ is our priority! Stop indulging in pointless arguments." Garnet points at Doug's body. Pearl examines the body herself. Amethyst gets close, so then the blame would be shifted off her ever so slightly.

Pearl speaks up, "Anyway, why would he do this?"

Garnet stands up, "Pearl, I think Amethyst may be correct."

Pearl groans, "I wished not."

"Why, because it's so terrible?" Amethyst asked.

Pearl sighs, "Yes."

 **S:S:S:S:S**

After putting the body in a bubble (they would cremate it later), and some cleaning to the house, the Gems left. They got on Lion. Amethyst got on the pink creature last, still unsure if Garnet knew anything or not. Pearl was a little too on the fritz to think clearly.

Lion seemed to be too tired to warp at the moment, so he just ran. The gems discussed their situation.

"So, uh, what are we going to do about this?" Amethyst asks.

"Well, what else could we do? We must inform Steven and Connie." Garnet answers.

Pearl gasps, " _What!?_ We can't tell them! Connie has already been through enough, how could we tell her? I've studied human relationships, and it doesn't work well."

"What do you propose we do?" Garnet inquires.

"Well—uh, uh…" Pearl stammers.

"I think I might be with P here. I don't know if we should tell Connie. What if she does something extreme or something?" Amethyst states.

"You may be correct, but we can't just lie to her. I see two possibilities. If we tell her, then it has a greater chance of being better than not telling her. If we don't tell her, it is inevitable she will find out. And then she'll be resentful. We must tell her now." Garnet explains.

"Well, can't argue with that." Amethyst agrees.

Pearl groans, "If you foresee it, then I guess I can't argue. But I'm still worried for Connie's mental wellbeing."

Lion stopped in front of the Temple. Amethyst hopped off, followed by Garnet, then Pearl. Amethyst opened the door to see Connie and Steven talking in the kitchen. It hurt her slightly to see their innocent faces.

"Hey guys, where've you been?" Steven greets. He sets down a bag of chips on the table for him and Connie.

Pearl comes up with a terribly formed lie, "In…town! Yeah, in town."

"What were you guys _there_ for?" Steven asked.

"Oh Steven, we were just there to…um, get some food! You know, for you!" Pearl lied.

"But I thought you never liked getting me food…" Steven stated.

"Oh don't worry, I don't," Pearl scoffs, "Anyway, that's why I brought Garnet and Amethyst with me."

Amethyst speaks up, "Yep! But sadly there was nothing for you buddy."

Steven eats a chip, "Aww man. Okay."

Garnet pulls Pearl and Amethyst aside, "Remember what I said? We have to tell them. _Now._ "

"But-" Amethyst tries, but she gets cut off.

"Actually Steven, there's more to it than that." Garnet interjects.

"Yeah? What is it?" Steven pays his full attention to the fusion leader.

"It involves Connie as well." Garnet explains. Connie turns around in her chair.

Steven puts his thumb up, "Well, you've got our full attention Garnet, what's up?"

"Well, Connie. Steven. Uh, Connie's father is… oh how should I say this? He's uh-" Pearl is cut off.

"Dead." Garnet finishes.

Connie gasps, "What?!" She jumps out of her chair.

"I had a vision about your father, and we had to check on it. I am sorry Connie, but he is gone." Garnet explains.

Connie shakes her head, "No, no! This can't be true! I mean, I hated him, but he was still my dad! I can't really want him to die! But I did a little… ugh! I'm so confused!" Amethyst feels a little remorse about her actions. But soon everything would be fine. It's not like her father would come to do anything horrible anymore.

 _'Yeah, I stopped him from doing anything else to Connie. I'm fine.'_ Amethyst justifies.

"Ooh, we're sorry, Connie. We never meant for it to turn out in this way." Pearl apologizes.

Connie looks up, "No guys really, it's okay. You had nothing to do with it, I bet. There's nothing to apologize for."

"Are you sure? I mean, this is something big, and it seems like it would be our fault and-"

"Wait, how did he die?" Steven asks.

"Uh…" Pearl stammers.

Amethyst takes charge, a mistake possibly, but she does so anyway, "I think he did it to himself."

"What?" Connie exclaims. Garnet doesn't say anything. She didn't want to think about the dead human body they found. She let Amethyst explain.

"He was in his bedroom. I think it was because we kept you safe that he did it. He didn't know what to do without a punching bag." Amethyst lies.

Connie starts to sob, "So he did it to himself, because of me?"

Steven jumps to her side, "No! No, that's not it at all Connie!"

"Then what could it be?"

Garnet directs the Gems away from the scene. They all follow her, leaving Steven and Connie to converse.

"Connie, your dad, he, uh… he wasn't that great. He beat you up! He gave you bruises and scars and he hurt you!"

"I know all that Steven," Connie spat, "What I don't know is why he did this to himself. Amethyst pretty much just said it was me."

"No, that's not what she said. It's just like she told us. He did it to himself. That's gotta mean it's his fault for doing it, right?"

"You don't understand how… how _suicide_ works, do you Steven? Like yeah, it could have been for internal reasons, but come on, my dad wasn't like that. He was never remorseful, he was very prideful and self-confident, and there was nothing from his past that prompted him to resorting to any violence! Something from the outside caused it, Steven. And that something is me. He lost me, so he took his life. It's the only explanation."

Steven blinked at Connie's words. He had nothing to back up what he said. He had no words to say back. He was baffled, and saddened by the fact that he couldn't help his grieving friend.

Suddenly, however, he knew just what to say, "Connie, it's not your fault. And you know what? It isn't you. It's not any of us."

"What do you mean, Steven? He just killed himself for no reason?"

"Uh, I guess?" Steven shrugs, knowing he failed.

Connie stands up, "Thanks for the try Steven, but-" She stops.

"Connie? Are you okay?" Steven stands up too. Connie doesn't respond.

Connie gasps, as if she were holding her breath, "Steven, what if it was an actual external force?"

"What?"

"What if—what if he didn't kill himself?"

"Then how did he die?" Steven asked, blatantly lying and making himself look stupid for Connie.

"Someone killed him Steven! And we're going to find out who it is!"

 **A/N: Finally done! And no, that wasn't a cliffhanger. There isn't a second part. The next chapter may or may not focus on Steven and Connie trying to find the killer. I think it will be more of a background thing, so to speak.**

 **Anyway, this took way too long, but I've been busy. So, sorry.**

 **I hope you like my fic so far!**


	15. I Am A Crystal Gem

We Protect Each Other 15

 **A/N: Oh man…I'm so late. I'm so bad. Yeah, I'm sorry about this. I'm so late with this chapter. It's school and stuff, you know, the usual. Hopefully I'll have an idea in mind for this chapter, because I'm pretty sure I don't have any requests. Yeah I don't. Crap. I may make something based on the new episodes, and make it not part of the overarching story! Yeah, I'll do that. I think I have just the Gem in mind.**

 **This chapter isn't part of the main story, by the way. It's just another unrelated chapter. Because that used to be the main goal of this fanfiction…**

 **Let's begin!**

Connie sat on the beach, eating a sandwich. Steven would come meet her here in a few minutes.

 _'Hopefully, at least.'_ Connie sighed. She knew how to swordfight, and fight with Steven. How come she was never used? Or able to go on missions? She was just stuck here, in Beach City, eating a sandwich. It made her a little angry. She just wanted to be worth something. She wanted to help. She didn't want to sit on the sidelines anymore!

She had waited there for a few more minutes now. In total, nearly an hour. That, couple with her thoughts of her self-worth, Connie Mahesawaran was not a happy girl.

"Ugh! I just want to help too!" Connie shouted into the echoed air. Her shout echoed through the air, and Connie felt as if it were mocking her.

 _'Keep it together Connie. You're acting like a nut.'_

Soon the water started to bubble. Connie looked at it. Was something coming out of the water?

The water started to rise. Connie jumped back in alarm. She dropped her sandwich as orange came out of the water. Connie looked on as more and more came out of the water, and then it stopped.

An orange and dark orange figure fell onto the beach sand. Their dark orange marks and orange skin switch colors. Connie couldn't see their face. They were face down, and the wild mane of hair was also in the way. The uniform the figure was wearing didn't look to be in the best shape either.

Connie felt a little bad for them. She had no idea who they were, and yet they seemed familiar.

 _'I feel like Steven told me about someone like this or something…'_ Connie thought. She stepped over to the figure.

"Uh, hello?" She asked out. The figure didn't answer, but they were breathing heavy, so Connie knew they were alive. They flopped over onto their back. Connie could see them clearer now. She couldn't see their face, but the diamond insignia on the uniform enough.

This was a Gem from Homeworld.

Connie stepped back. She was afraid she'd get attacked. Homeworld hated Earth.

But, she looked so helpless. She seemed like she was in trouble. Connie inched her way over to the large Gem. She knelt down.

"Um, are you okay?" The gem moved, and got to her feet. She didn't stand, but got in more of a ready to pounce position.

She growled, 'Who are you?"

"Um, I'm Connie. I saw you wash up on the beach, and I want to help…"

"I don't need help." The Gem said. Connie couldn't recognize the voice, but it was like the voice that she remembered Steven telling her about. The large Gem moved her hair back. Connie recognized them. It was Jasper, the gem who gave Steven the black eye. Connie felt…unafraid. She would have been, sure, but Jasper looked really bent out of shape. Connie couldn't see Jasper's gem though.

Jasper tried to stand up, but was too weak to make a full stance. Jasper saw as she started to change colours more. This had only happened one time before when—

 _'No. That's impossible!'_ Jasper pondered. She shakily moved her colour changing hand to her face, and then to her gem. It was true. Her gem was cracked. How was she going to get out of this? There was no one on this planet to heal her! No one that would anyway…

Jasper knew that Steven could heal. But, he wouldn't help her. If anything he'd probably attack her with the help of the Crystal Gems. Jasper had no way to contact Homeworld. She didn't want to say it, but it was hopeless. She could feel the overwhelming pain from her gem. It racked through her whole body. Jasper didn't have a lot of strength. She collapsed, and everything went dark.

Connie saw as the huge gem fell on the ground. She internally panicked. What was she going to do? What was wrong wither her? Was she okay? Even if she had hit Steven in the face, Steven talked about Jasper with some compassion at least, saying that it was like she had a job to do. Connie may not have agreed entirely, but she thought Jasper was worthy of some respect. She had other Gems to hate. Like the one that almost drowned her. She was _not_ over that.

Connie picked up Jasper's arm. She started to drag Jasper. Maybe she'd find somewhere safe for her. Hopefully.

 _Some Time Later…_

Connie went to the Temple. When Steven came he'd be here anyway, so there was no problem. The Temple was the only place she could think of too. Especially since Jasper is a Gem herself, maybe it was best to go to a gem structure.

Connie opened the door weakly. She leaned on it and pulled the orange soldier inside. Even if it hadn't been occupied for more than a month, the Temple looked exactly the same. Everything was clean, however.

 _'Pearl must have come back. She can't stand to leave a mess.'_ Connie thought. She finished pulling the gem all the way inside. She let the door slam shut behind her. Connie made it over to the white couch.

"I don't want to just leave you on the floor…" Connie muses, looking at Jasper. Connie climbs onto the couch, and pulls Jasper up. She at least sits Jasper upright. But she couldn't pull any further than that. Connie sighed, Jasper would just sit on the floor.

Connie made sure Jasper would stay upright. When she was confident she would, she scoured the beach house. There _had_ to be food that wasn't rotten somewhere. Connie opened the fridge. Nothing. Once again, probably Pearl. She wouldn't want to come back to the Temple and smell something terrible. Steven had told Connie one of a story where the Gems and he had gone out on a mission that lasted for days, and it turned out when the left, Amethyst was eating. So when they came back, her leftover food was moldy and it smelled terrible. He explained, in detail, of how Pearl freaked out. Connie chuckled at the story.

There was nothing in the pantry either. So there was no food. Connie sighed, "Well, I guess Gems don't eat anyway…"

Connie took a cloth and ran warm water over it. She put it on Jasper. Connie nearly smacked herself. What was she doing? Jasper was a Gem! Not a human, like her. She didn't need this kind of treatment. Connie went to take it off. Jasper was right. She didn't need this kind of help. Connie brushed aside Jasper's hair and took the cloth off. _'Gems always heal them—'_ Connie's eyes widened. There, on Jasper's gem, was a large crack. Connie breathed quickly, and started to hyperventilate.

 _'What am I gonna do now?'_ Connie frantically looked around the beach house. Maybe the Gems saved some of Steven's healing spit? Where could it be? Where? Maybe the Gems didn't…

Connie fell back onto the couch. She sunk down. There was nothing she could do. She was just a _human._ She didn't have magical powers. She couldn't heal. All she could do was wait until someone got there to help.

Connie didn't know what to think. She didn't want to sit here and wallow in self-pity, but what else could she do? Human medicines couldn't work on a Gem, and Connie wasn't enthusiastic to wake the Gem soldier. She was stuck.

Despite Connie's wishes, Jasper started to stir up anyway. Connie jumped from the couch, since maybe Jasper wanted to go on the couch.

"Wha—where?" Jasper looked around. This place was unlike any she had ever seen before. It was made of some organic substance that belonged to this planet. She had experienced it before… what was it? Wood? Yeah, wood. Jasper's vision came into full view. She moved her head around, gathering information about her surroundings.

It seemed nothing more than a simple Earth home. Until she saw the Warp Pad. What was this place? There was a star on the door. This was the Crystal Gems' base! Jasper stood up, she had strength now. There was still throbbing pain from her Gem, but she was in no position to take note of it, or do something about it. Why was she here?

Jasper saw Connie, a small human. She remembered seeing her before on the beach. She must have taken her here!

Jasper's eyes narrowed at the young girl, "You! Why'd you bring me here?"

"Well, um, I couldn't just leave you on the beach…" Connie answered, sweating.

"Do you even know what this place _is_?" Jasper asked bitterly. _'The traitors would never involve themselves with a human. Well, not this personally.'_

Connie scoffed, "What? Of course I do!"

" _Why?_ " Jasper questioned harshly.

"Because," Connie began. What was she going to say? She couldn't just explain herself! Even if she did, Jasper wouldn't give her enough respect to listen to her if she answered truthfully, "…I live here! This is my home!"

Jasper's mouth opened wide, "You…affiliate with the Crystal Gems?"

"If you want to call it that, then fine."

Jasper felt a large wave of pain. The crack in her Gem became larger. She fell back into the lunch counter. She splintered the wood, but she couldn't care less about this human's home.

"Oh-oh my goodness! Are you okay?" Connie rushed over to help the large Gem.

Jasper, even when in extreme pain, stood up and brushed herself off, "I'm fine, kid. Now I have to get out of here."

"But, your Gem. I think you should wait."

"You're a human. You don't know what you're talking about." Jasper spat. In all honesty, Jasper was confused. Something didn't seem right. How could this human know so much? Humans were a race far beneath Gems, they shouldn't know of any of that. Right?

Connie knew Jasper was right. She didn't know much, but Steven told her that having a cracked gem was really bad, so she had that to go on.

Jasper didn't rest however. She still moved around. She was tempted to go on the Warp Pad, but didn't. Something was holding her back. Maybe it was that Rose—Steven could come and heal her. She needed to stop saying Rose. Apparently Steven was different. Lazuli explained to her who and what Steven was.

Jasper sighed, "Fine. But I'm not taking orders from a human. I'm a Gem Soldier. One willing to wait."

Connie clenched her teeth. Why was Jasper like this? So…stubborn? Was that the word?

Jasper could really only think of her time with Lazuli. It was terrible in that fusion. She hated fusion with a burning passion now, even if it was a useful battle tactic. No matter what Homeworld said, and that fusion could be useful in specific circumstances, Jasper still never wanted to fuse again. She should have never resorted to that. Lapis kept her there. Chained down like she was some servant or prisoner!

Jasper could nearly laugh. Pathetic that a gem like a Lapis had to use fusion to keep her down. It's like she didn't even know of her true power!

She was becoming impatient. Jasper moved around on the couch. She was becoming _very_ impatient, "This is nearly as bad as being trapped in that fusion." She grumbled.

Connie looked up, "What's so bad about fusion?"

"You're kidding, right?"

"No…?"

"You wouldn't understand if I told you! And yet you ask. It's a waste of time! You'd never experience something such as fusion anyway. Humans aren't made for that. You're made to go around, and well…I don't know, or care. The point is, you can't fuse, and never will fuse."

Connie sighed. She wouldn't argue.

Jasper looked up at Rose's photo. She was a little disgusted. Rose Quartz used to be a defense soldier. Now, she was a peace loving whatever? What was this? Rose Quartz left Homeworld and caused arrays of Gems to be shattered and put into the Cluster. That was her fault.

Everything Homeworld did was for Gemkind. But Rose Quartz didn't care. Jasper was disgusted, and she hated it. The fact she knew Rose Quartz personally made it even more of a sour topic.

Jasper still did miss Rose. Even if the last time they…agreed was more than 5000 years ago.

Connie noticed Jasper looking at the photo, and being sad, as well as mad. She remembered all those things Steven told her about. About the Gem War. About Gems. About Rose.

"Did you know her?" Connie asked.

"What?" Jasper turned her head.

"Steven's mom."

Jasper looked at the girl confused, but she caught on, "Why do you want to know?"

"Steven told me that his mom knew a lot of Gems, and that the Crystal Gems told him that many of the Gems she knew didn't agree with her when she fought for Earth. You don't seem to be very happy when you look at the photo. But you also look sad. You knew her."

"Listen kid, that isn't something to talk about." Jasper stands up, not feeling comfortable with this child. "Anyway, I'm leaving."

"What? You can't leave!" Connie shouts.

"Why not?"

"You _have_ to wait for Steven! You're going to get yourself killed! I know about your cracked Gem, remember? And I know that if you do anything brash or something, it could shatter."

"How could you know about that? And who says that I'm going to be order around by a human? Just because you affiliate with the Crystal Gems doesn't make you anything more than a human, right? How would you know?"

Connie felt her anger rise, "Because I'm more than just a measly human! I help out the Crystal Gems, even if it isn't all the time! I can wield a sword, and I _have_ fused! So I know what I'm talking about when I'm saying only Steven can help you, and that you need to listen to me!"

Connie was surprised when Jasper didn't answer in a laugh, or an insult. She looked at Connie with a look that could only be described as understanding. She sat back down on the couch. Jasper leaned forwards. How is it that humans had advanced so far? To a point that they would talk down to a Gem soldier? It was, impressive, to say the least. Jasper was actually impressed.

"Very well then, Crystal Gem."

Connie knew that was genuine.

 **A/N: I need to stop making Connie chapters XD. But I needed to make a chapter for Jasper. I just needed to. And I thought her meeting Connie for the first time would be nice. Maybe I'll make a Steven chapter next time, just to try and balance things out. Because I've had probably 2 mainly Steven chapters. So I want to fix that. I probably won't be able to get back to this fic for some time, since I have all the other ones, and I have school.**

 **I hope this chapter isn't bad though. And I tried to characterize Jasper correctly. I hope I did…**

 **I hope you like my fic so far!**


	16. Special

We Protect Each Other 16

 **A/N: Hey guys! I have literally no idea what I'm going to make this! Well, I have maybe one idea…**

Steven laid on his bed, grasping at the softness. The Crystal Gems had just gone on a mission, and Steven was told to stay home. And he was _bored._ He'd already called his super fun dad, but what else could he do?

He just rolled around on his bed, racking through his head for ideas. Everyone would probably be busy, but there was no use in not trying.

Steven stood up and walked down the wood stairs. They creaked with every step. It was like the house had grown old without his presence. Steven opened the wood door as well, and it too made a creaky screeching noise.

It was as if the house were ready to collapse. Steven walked with pep in his step over to Beach City. He was ready to take a small tour again, after being gone for so long. He walked by Fish Stew Pizza. It wasn't open.

Steven kept walking around the small beachside town. It felt…so different then what he remembered. Was he gone for that long? He was gone ever since Peridot got there, basically.

Steven felt like he was missing something. He couldn't pinpoint what. All he could think of was that he left his phone at home. But hadn't used it since yesterday, and it didn't seem to be weighing him down then, so it wouldn't now. But what could it possibly be now?

The boy shook it off, and kept walking around. Who knows, maybe he'd remember it then?

Connie ran to Steven's house. Yes, ran.

She was driving with her parents last night, something she had been doing often ever since Steven left. She missed Steven immensely. It wasn't just because she had to spend all her time with her parents now, but that was a large part of it, she just wanted to have her friend back.

Connie had become even more reserved since Steven left. That was really all she _could_ do. Since she was staying home alone a lot, her parents still called her constantly. She also needed to have her manners at full capacity, because that's what happens when you're all alone with her parents.

She just kept missing Steven every day. She needed some excitement in her life, much less someone to talk to at least.

While she was driving around, she saw something floating in the air. She had to focus on it, but after a second, she could tell it was Steven. She started to breathe quickly.

 _'_ _Steven. In the sky. Falling. Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god!'_

Connie wanted to scream as loud as she could, but she couldn't. If she did, her parents would hear, and then they too would see him. Even if they did become accepting of Steven and stuff, there was no way they would accept the fact that he was floating in the sky!

Like, what if he took their daughter up into the sky, but fell? Her parents would be filled with all sorts of worries that it would be certain that she couldn't even _think_ about Steven anymore.

It took a lot of effort, but Connie kept it together.

When she arrived home however, that was a different story. Her parents went out for some reason, probably a romantic dinner, so she was alone.

She looked out her window, but could not see Steven. All she could do is think about Steven falling. Falling and dying. He may have called her earlier to say that they should meet the next day, but that doesn't mean that he'd be okay.

Connie faceplanted into her pillow. With all the thoughts in mind, and the fact that she couldn't see anything, she screamed, "Steven!"

Connie was almost at Steven's house.

 _'_ _Please be okay, please be okay, please be okay,'_ She chanted like she was in a trance.

Connie was happy to see how close she was getting to the huge Temple. She ran up the wood stairs, probably as fast as ever, and she knocked on the door.

Steven still didn't feel right. Was he forgetting something? Someone? In Beach City maybe? Then he remembered.

"Connie!" He whisper shouted. Her house was too far to run to, though. So Steven resorted to Lion. He looked around Beach City, hopefully Lion would be there. And he was! Right in front of Fish Stew Pizza.

"Awww, you're just a big fluffy cat!" Steven hopped on Lion's back. "Now, to Connie's house!"

Lion roared and made a portal, and off the two were.

Lion skid across the ground in front of Connie's house. Steven could see the gray townhouse. Or apartment. He didn't really know. The lights were off, but maybe Connie was watching a movie or something.

"Stay here Lion." Steven ordered. Lion slowly laid down. Steven smiled.

He walked up to the door and knocked, "Connie? You there?" There was no answer. Steven kept trying, persistent as ever.

"Well Lion, I guess she isn't here. Where could she be though?" Steven mused. Steven thought of tons of places she could be. "Ugh, I still feel like I'm forgetting something!"

"Wait…" Steven started to remember exactly what he said during his phone call with his best friend. "Oh no…"

"Lion! We have to get back to the Temple!" Steven jumped on top of Lion's back. Lion started to warp through to the Temple.

Connie knocked on the wood door, "Steven?" There was no answer to her countless knocks. She felt it would be rude to look inside the window, but she had no choice. She looked in. The house was empty.

Connie sighed, _'I know Steven said for me to meet him. Where is he?'_

She tried knocking a few more times, to no avail. Her knocks became weaker and weaker as her hope for seeing her only friend diminished.

Eventually, she sighed, and slid down the door. She just sat there, knees curled up to her chest. She was absolutely sure that Steven said that he was here yesterday. Did something change?

Connie started having worse thoughts go through her head. None of them were about something bad happening to Steven. Steven knew how to take care of himself. He had all of his powers, and the Crystal Gems, and herself she guessed.

What did Connie have? Why was she even here? Why was she special to Steven? What made her special?

Connie tried to stop the thoughts, but without having the sort of positivity Steven brought, it was like she didn't have any friends again, so the thoughts just kept coming and coming.

She tried to ignore them. But that didn't work. She tried to think of more happy thoughts. That didn't work. _'Ugh! Just stop-!'_

Steven burst to the scene on Lion. He fell off Lion trying to hurry to the door in time.

"Connie!" He shouted. He ran in for a hug. Connie accepted it, but she was still surprised. She didn't noticed that tears were still threatening to fall. Luckily for her, Steven did.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

Connie zoned back in, "Oh, um nothing. It's not important."

"That's ridiculous! Of course it's important."

"No. Not to you anyway. You've done such bigger and better things. Me? I've been sitting at home all day, because that's what I do." Connie sighed.

"That's ridiculous!"

"Is it really? You're a Gem! You've been saving humanity for forever! Your mom is really important, and you, you're history in the making! But me, nah. I'm not even your first friend. I'm not important."

Steven was silent. What was he supposed to say? What he had been saying can only go so far, and he couldn't counter anything. Everything Connie said was right, except for the fact that she wasn't important. And Steven could feel that merely denying her negative statement would just make things worse.

"Steven, why do you even want to _talk_ to me? You have the Crystal Gems, and your dad, and…well I'm nothing compared to them. I'm not special." Connie started to cry. There, she said it. And then Steven would agree and she'd be friendless again. But, Steven didn't say anything. Connie waited for it, but Steven said nothing. _'C'mon Steven, just say it already! I'm nothing!'_

Steven, he was confused. Why would Connie think those things? They weren't true! Steven just looked at his friend, sad as ever. She was standing there, waiting for an answer.

Steven moved in and hugged her, "You _are_ special Connie." Steven paused, she saw how it raised her spirits a little. He really missed her. Missed them being together. This made Steven think of every moment with her, "You're the most special person I know. You could fight Pearl's holograms with ease! I couldn't do that. You're one of the best people I know. So please, stop doubting yourself. Because I don't."

Connie smiled.

 **A/N: I am so so sorry this took so long. I have been so busy! And also this chapter has gone through 3 versions. Yeah, 3. So it took forever for me to find a version I like. And yes, it is summer for me, but I've been doing a lot. So it's like school all over again, ugh!**

 **I don't know how to feel about this chapter. It was supposed to come out great, but this? I don't know… I just hope you guys like it at least.**

 **And I know it's shorter than usual, but again, I've been so busy. And when you're that busy, your motivation just falls to the wayside.**

 **Anyway, I hope you like my fic so far!**


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